Achieving Geek Shui: Preventing Inbox Overload
September 8, 2009 - By Justin E. Gehrke
Ask any computer user if they receive too much junk email, and you are likely to hear a resounding, “Yes!” Reducing the amount of email spam you receive, though, is not a difficult task. Most people have at least two email accounts. Normally, people have an email account from work and one at home. How you use these email addresses, though, is often a good indicator of how much junk you will receive. So what “Geek Shui” principles can you use to prevent inbox overload? We’ll cover a few that will get you started on the right path.
1) Work Email Accounts: When considering the use of work-related email accounts, there is one cardinal rule. Use them ONLY for work. Do not register for newsletters (unless they are work-related). Do not use your work email address when registering for user accounts on other websites. Often, these sites have very detailed-and long-user agreements, which say that they may share your address with their partners. In some instances, they will allow you to check/uncheck an option to receive “emails from their partners” or “information related to your interests”. If you have a choice, check “NO”. Also, if your work email is provided and managed by your employer and his or her IT staff, minimize the amount of personal email you receive in your account. While you may not have anything to hide, employers often use email traffic management tools to identify wasted productivity, improper or unlawful use, etc.
2) Home Email Accounts: Normally, users will utilize either the email address provided by their Internet Service Provider (ISP) or choose from one of the many web-based email providers (e.g. Yahoo, Gmail, MSN, etc.). Generally, all are of the same quality and provide the same level of security. You will want to receive personal email from friends and family. You may also want to use this address to subscribe for electronic bills and access for electricity, water, and other accounts that have an online presence. What you don’t want, though, are thousands of special offers. If you are among the majority who fall into this category, do not use your home email address to register for anything from people who aren’t your friends or companies from whom you don’t receive services. Additionally and for this reason, you should consider having a “third” email address. Why? We’ll cover that a bit later.
3) Email Forwards and Chain Letters: Aside from the normal dangers of infected attachments, forwards and chain letters are just plain annoying. Everyone has at least one friend or family member who is part of the unofficial “Internet Garbage Dissemination Program.” What is this? These are the people who have taken it upon themselves to send as many emails as possible, with the smallest amount of value, to as many people as possible. Why do they do this? Do they want to slow internet traffic to a crawl, overload email servers, and annoy everyone in their contact list? No one can be certain. What is certain, though, is that you have a choice. A polite email to someone who only sends forwards, explaining that you would love to receive actual messages, with original sentences and thoughts, gets the point across quickly. In the event they don’t appreciate your sincere request, configure two rules for messages received from them that do not have only your email address in the “To” line. The first rule should be configured to immediately reply to their message with a message to this effect: “This is an auto-generated reply from the Internet Service Provider of the recipient to whom you sent this message. Your email account has been logged as a possible spammer and may be submitted for blacklisting among major email providers.” The second rule should automatically move the message to the deleted items. The effective use of this technique depends upon the options provided by your email client or web-based provider. When implemented, though, it should quickly alarm them that they run the risk of being associated with the largest spammers around the world.
4) Establish an Internet Alter-Ego: Unfortunately, accessing content or downloading programs on some websites, forums, etc. requires registering on the site. Registration almost always requires providing an email address. In some cases, you may be able to provide a fake email address. In other cases, the site on which you are registering may send an activation link or similar type email to confirm your registration and prior to allowing you access to the content or download. For these situations, it is a good idea to have an alter-ego. Geek Shui Living is not promoting an “alias” to avoid detection by your family or law enforcement! In this case, we’re suggesting that you create an email account with a web-based email provider (e.g. Yahoo, Gmail, Hotmail, etc.). The entire purpose of this account is to use to register for one-time needs, passing fads, and other miscellaneous internet “things” that don’t require your real information. Several things are key. You should not create a user name with any part of your name in it. You should not provide your street/mailing address, telephone number, etc. You can even bypass the name requirement by dividing your user name into two parts and use it for your first and last name. From here on out, you will ONLY use your alter-ego to do “unofficial” business on the internet. Obviously, you won’t use this email address to receive your credit cards statements, but you should also be sure not to give it to friends or family, since, in general, you will only enter the account to confirm a registration or delete all of the junk that accumulates there. Once you implement this practice, you will be amazed at the amount of unsolicited email you receive, after registering at specific sites. If you were to actually put all of the emails into a timeline, you would likely be able to pinpoint who sold your “alter-ego” to the junk mail sender. One final word of caution, though, is that you should inform your significant other of this “alter-ego” account, so that he or she does not become suspicious should they find you checking it.
5) Passwords are Power: Okay, so now you have (at least) three email accounts. Here comes the really hard part of the Geek Shui, security-related portion of the practice. Do NOT use the same password for all three accounts. For that matter, if you have to put a password for the registrations mentioned in #4, above, do not use the same password you use for any of the email accounts. With regard to the email accounts and the registrations, you can be certain of your security posture, but you cannot be certain of the security posture of the email provider or website administrator. If they do not practice sound security, their website, mail servers, etc. may be vulnerable to attack. Should an unauthorized user gain access to your passwords and see email traffic from your personal to work accounts, they could easily enter into your other account. What follows thereafter is the scourge known as identity theft. What does a good password have? Three things: Complexity – Meaning at least 7-10 characters, with a mix of upper/lowercase, numbers, and special characters.; Uniqueness – Meaning it is nothing like any of your other passwords; Singular Knowledge – Meaning no one else has the password. Now, in the case of couples, it is necessary to ensure your significant other or close family member has access to your online accounts, in the event of emergency. This can be taken care of by creating a document with your user names, passwords, and related URLS. This document should be stored in a safe (permanently bolted to the structure of your home or office) or in a safety deposit box. This will ensure you have access to it, as well, in the event you forget the password, while ensuring the general snooper, burgular, etc. does not gain access to it.
While the aformentioned things are very basic measures to protect your privacy, organize your email, and generally help in achieving “geek shui”, they are just that…only a few things. There are countless websites, books, and periodicals that provide tips and advice on how to manage your virtual life. The important thing to remember is that increasing your security posture and staying organized does not have to be more work. More simply, it is changing the way you handle your “virtual things”, so that you may focus more on the “real things” in your life.
Justin E. Gehrke is the founder of Geek Shui Living. As a right and left-brained geek, he is available for consulting in the areas of Information Technology, Network Security, and creative web design and development. He really does appreciate feedback from the computing masses, so feel free to transmit your packets to him, via the Geek Shui Living Contact page.
