messages

Tue
12
Jul
John Lister's picture

Facebook to Offer Secure 'Secret Messaging'

Facebook is to let users send messages which cannot be read by anyone other than the recipient. It's also continuing to work on a feature that allows users to send temporary messages which self-destruct. The new feature is referred to as end-to-end ... encryption . That means it's set up in a way that, even if the message is intercepted, it can't be read by anyone other than the recipient. This is done by maintaining the encryption from the sending device to the receiving device, regardless of the route it takes across the Internet. Secure Shell (SSH) , which is commonly used to connect a ... (view more)

Thu
16
Jun
John Lister's picture

Spam King Finally Pays Price

A man once dubbed the "Spam King" has been jailed for two and a half years. However, Sanford Wallace's sentence is for emails which were fraudulent rather than simply unwanted. Wallace first came to infamy by sending unwanted faxes before it became ... illegal. In the late 1990s he became one of the first mass spammers and was sued by several Internet providers, including AOL. He was so open about sending spam, that at one point he even got the attention of lawyers at Hormel Foods (the company which makes Spam - a meat product), in which they claimed Wallace was breaching trademark ... (view more)

Wed
01
Jun
John Lister's picture

Facebook Instant Messages Get More Secure

Facebook is reportedly planning to offer encryption on its messaging tools, which means that neither Facebook, nor governments could read the contents. It's also working on an option to integrate standard text messaging into its Messenger app. The ... idea is to offer end-to-end encryption, meaning that if a message is intercepted at any point between leaving the sender's device and arriving at the recipient's device, it would be unreadable. As well as being a selling point to users who worry about snooping, the tool could also mean Facebook would have a simple answer if law ... (view more)

Wed
16
Mar
John Lister's picture

Google Email Automatic Reply Tool Expanded

Google is expanding a feature that automatically suggests quick email replies that you can send with one click. It's moving it from mobile only to the desktop, though won't yet be part of the main Gmail tool. The feature, called Smart Reply, debuted ... on the Inbox by Gmail mobile app. That's a separate tool to Gmail, though lets you access the same email accounts. The difference is that the app contains several tools designed to make it easier to deal with large numbers of messages, particularly for people who work on the move. Smart Reply works by scanning the content of an ... (view more)

Thu
18
Feb
John Lister's picture

Outlook Web Email Gets Overhaul

Microsoft has started rolling out a revamped Outlook.com, its email web portal. The service now includes a variety of tools, including some from other companies, designed to make email easier and more productive. Outlook.com takes Microsoft's ... existing email software and turns it into a web service, meaning that you can get your messages by visiting a website in a browser rather than the traditional (if now seen as outdated) method of using a separate application. Filtering And Searching Improved Among the key features is "Clutter." It's Microsoft's take on a filter for ... (view more)

Tue
21
Jul
John Lister's picture

Symantec: Spam Rate Falls to a 12-Year Low

According to security firm Symantec, the proportion of spam emails has fallen to their lowest levels in 12 years. It's the first time since 2003 that the majority of emails are not spam. While the figures are compiled from a variety of sources, the ... main source comes from customers using Symantec security products containing some form of email filtering. That could mean the report is slightly distorted towards those who find spam especially problematic, and thus overstate their level of spam. Overall, Symantec estimates that 49.7 percent of email messages contain spam. This covers all email ... (view more)

Mon
23
Mar
Dennis Faas's picture

Spam Email: Can I block an entire Domain?

Infopackets Reader Michael E. writes: " Dear Dennis, I read your newsletter all the time; thanks for publishing. Question: is there a way to block an entire web domain from sending email to me? I use Microsoft Outlook. The reason I ask this is ... because I constantly receive spam email from numerous web domains which seem to exist for the purpose of sending spam emails only, and therefore deserve to be totally blocked. I would like to be able to fill in a domain name in Outlook, and then never see emails again from those web domains in my inbox. " My response: Unfortunately, blocking an entire ... (view more)

Fri
16
Jan
Dennis Faas's picture

Download and Save Emails to USB Drive?

Infopackets Reader 'ltb223' writes: " Dear Dennis, Is it possible to download all my email messages from my computer to a CD or a thumb drive so I can read them later? If so how do I go about it? My email account is with gmail. Thank you. " My ... response: There are a number of ways to go about downloading and archiving email messages (whether it's gmail, hotmail, aol, or yahoo); in general, there are two main ways to achieve this: you can either export emails via web interface if your email service supports it, or export emails using an email client if you use pop3 or imap to connect and read ... (view more)

Wed
12
Nov
John Lister's picture

Is it Spam? MS Outlook Receives 'Bacon' Email Filter

Microsoft has launched a new tool for MS Outlook designed to make it easier to deal with email overload. It will be available for business users at first, but could later be rolled out for home users. The feature will be available as part of Office ... 365 for business: that's the online edition of the Office suite, which is automatically updated when Microsoft adds new features or makes changes. The name of the feature comes from the problem Microsoft is trying to tackle: Clutter. That's meant to describe the category of emails that are from legitimate senders, but which you don't ... (view more)

Wed
26
Mar
John Lister's picture

Google Wiretap, Data Mining Class Action Dismissed

Google says it is going to mediation over claims it unlawfully scanned the contents of emails for advertising purposes. It's a surprise move, considering that Google recently won a major court victory over the affair. The legal dispute centers on ... the fact that Google's computers scan through the contents of email messages sent via its free Gmail service. Google then uses keywords that appear in messages to produce advertisements that appear alongside the message in the user's inbox. As an example: if you received a message from a friend mentioning an upcoming golf game, you might ... (view more)

Pages

Subscribe to RSS - messages