Information Security
UT Martin Email Statistics
Total This Year
| Spam | 94.9% 141,707,026 |
| Non-spam | 4.2% 6,272,056 |
| Quarantined | 0.4% 535,570 |
| Viruses | 0.0% 10,054 |
| Tagged | 0.6% 867,053 |
| Total | 149,391,759 |
Total Today
| Spam | 96.5% 461,022 |
| Non-spam | 3.0% 14,121 |
| Quarantined | 0.2% 1,137 |
| Viruses | 0.0% 22 |
| Tagged | 0.3% 1,542 |
| Total | 477,844 |
Total This Hour
| Spam | 94.3% 14,452 |
| Non-spam | 5.0% 764 |
| Quarantined | 0.4% 60 |
| Viruses | 0.0% 3 |
| Tagged | 0.3% 50 |
| Total | 15,329 |
Best Practices for Virus Safety
- Never open attachments from someone you do not know.
- Do not open files attached to email if you are not sure what they do, even if the sender appears to be someone you know. Instead, contact the sender and verify that the attachment is legitimate. Many viruses send copies of themselves as if they are the infected computer's real user.
- Delete chain emails and junk email.
- Do not download files from strangers.
- Do not install popular junkware like Hotbar, Gator, Comet Cursors, Bonzi Buddy, etc.
- Exercise caution when downloading files from the Internet by verifying the legitimacy of the site(s) first.
- Backup your important files regularly in case your computer does fall victim to a virus.
- Update and patch your computer's operating system regularly.
- Make sure that your email reader and office application software have the most current updates.
- Make sure that your Antivirus Software is updated with the latest virus definitions.
Best Practices for Avoiding Spam
- Beware of purchasing products which are advertised by spam. This only gives the spammers more incentive to continue sending unwanted email. It also provides them with more personally identifiable information which practically guarantees that you will receive more spam.
- Refrain from using "unsubscribe" or "opt-out" links contained in spam messages. These may or may not remove you from the specific list involved. These will definitely mark your email address as live and will likely be added to all other lists in existence.
- Refrain from replying to spam messages.
- Use a public or throw-away email address such as those offered by yahoo or hotmail for conducting online activities such as posting to newsgroups, forums, joining contests or anytime that your email is requested by a third party online. Potential spam will go to your "public" email address instead of your "private" email address.
- Do not post your private email address online. In case of personal or departmental websites which require some form of contact, use a form mailing script which does not publish your address.
- Use spam filtering software in conjuction with your email reader. There are several commercial products such as McAfee SpamKiller, MailWasher, and others. There are also several free products such as SpamBayes that work very well.
Best Practices for avoiding Spyware and Malware
- Refrain from installing programs that 'pop-up' on internet sites
- Only download software from well-reputed sites
- Avoid installing programs like Weather Bug, Hotbar, Bonzi Buddy, etc.
- Use spyware detection and removal programs such as Ad-Aware, Spybot, and Spyware Blaster
- Use a non-Microsoft web browser such as Mozilla Firefox or Opera