The International Stop Spam Day originated in 2020 by Bob Mathews from Holiday Insights. The primary purpose of this day is to create more awareness around the problems spam messages create for individuals and businesses alike.
According to Statista, 45.1% of email traffic in March 2021 was spam. While this number has decreased since the past year, spam emails still damage businesses.
Research shows that spam emails cost businesses 20.5 billion dollars annually. However, there are specific initiatives that you can take to reduce your spam.
Use the ‘Mark As Spam’ Filters
Most email service providers, including Gmail, Yahoo, Apple Mail, and Microsoft Outlook, have integrated algorithms that filter out spam and junk mail by redirecting them to another folder.
You can mark any suspicious email as spam, so if you receive any more emails from that address, the spam filter would be triggered, and the email will not be allowed to enter your inbox. This has a secondary benefit of giving your email provider more data on the types of emails that are spam, so it can filter them more effectively in the future.
Use a Third-Party Spam Filter
If you want to add another layer of cybersecurity, using a third-party spam filter can be advantageous. A third-party spam filter will ensure that the email does not reach your inbox and subsequently becomes the basis for malicious activity.
The suitable spam filters can safeguard your devices from malware threats, cyberattacks, and unwanted emails. However, make sure that the selected spam filter works with your email service provider.
Change Your Email Address
Often, the primary cause of excessive spam emails is a data breach. For instance, if you have signed up for some business’s email list and experienced a data breach, your email address may be accessible to cyber criminals or may be a part of a large database of breached emails. Check this site to see if your email has been compromised and if it has, it may be time to change it.
With many providers, it’s easy to create another free email account and enable an email forwarding service to ensure you continue to receive important messages.
You can do this by:
- Visiting your email service provider’s setting option
- Visiting the forwarding and POP/IMAP tab
- Finding the forwarding address box and type in your new email address
- Clicking ‘Next’ and verify.
However, keeping both your email accounts open for a few months is recommended to ensure that your emails are redirected to your new account.
Spam emails can become the basis of malicious activity. If you want to upgrade your cybersecurity protocols, be sure to add the correct spam filter to your emails and make sure you are using practical tools to safeguard your business’s systems.
And if you’re looking for vast range of tools that can enhance security, you may consider DataLocker tools for encryption, remote port blocking, and more.