Is your company sending spam? How to keep your system from being utilized by spammers

Email spam certainly isn’t a new problem. Since the late 90s email spam has been flooding the inboxes of everyone from your grandmother to high-profile executives. It is, however, a persistent one, and the problems it presents can be multifaceted. When looking into spam prevention, there are a few things a company must consider in order to uphold their reputations and avoid their company getting a black mark on its reputation.

1. Prevent phishing scams

One of the most common ways in which spammers harvest new email addresses is via phishing scams. These scams trick their victims into giving up their email’s username and password, often by posing as helpdesk or some other authority figure. One the spammer has access to the email address, they can start harvesting its contacts or even using the email itself to send out spam. This can do more than just annoy your customers. If spam appears to be originating from your company’s servers, they could be banned from sending emails to certain host destinations. Make sure that your employees all know how to recognize a phishing attempt, and ensure that all of them know never to give out a password or username via email.

2. Check your servers regularly to make sure they are secure

Spammers have other ways of gaining control of machines for the purpose of sending spam, too. If your mailserver is compromised, it may be sending out spam to your email list without you ever realizing it. This is a big deal. Not only does it annoy your customers, it makes your business look illegitimate, and if left for long enough, it can even cause your business to incur legal action. Check your mailserver regularly to make sure that only the people who are supposed to have access to it do. This means monitoring logs and doing regular audit checks on your system as well as making sure firewalls and other unmanned systems are in place.

3. Give your customers a way to report it

Consider putting a message on the bottom of all official emails sent by your company giving your customers a way to report it if they are receiving unsolicited messages from you. Sure, messages being generated by unauthorized users on your machine may not bear this message, but putting it in customers’ minds may cause them to report it if they start receiving spam from your address.

All in all, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure when it comes to making sure that your systems aren’t a target for spammers. Sure, it takes a bit of effort, but that effort is worth preventing a black mark on your business’s reputation. Always keep vigilant, and remember: when it comes to spammers gaining access to your mailserver, everyone is at risk.

To find out more about preventing spam, contact us today.