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Internet users can block unwanted Spam mails using simple steps.

Follow the below procedure to activate the E-mail filter.

1. Select the E-mail filtering link in the mail area.
2. Click on Add Filter
3. From the drop down list select the header field. They are the different fields in any e-mail message’s.
4. From the second drop down list select the required filter. The action will take effect on the text entered in the third field.

• Equals- Match the text exactly
• Matches regex- It matches the text based on regular expression rules. These expressions are powerful but complex.
• Contains- It matches certain text in any circumstance. Example- porn would block pornography and porn.
• Begins with- It matches the specified text in the beginning of the word.

5. Now enter the filter text in the third field. Be careful as the text is case sensitive.

6.  Now one needs to enter the destination for the filtered e-mail address in the Destination field. The destination fields are of three types :

• Destroy the E-mail : In the field enter Discard.
• Redirect To another address : Enter the email address where the spam needs to be directed.
• Redirect to a script : Enter the complete script path on the machine that hosts the website.

7. Click Activate tab.

For any further assistance please feel free to mail us on support@micfo.com

PayPal.com is a well known service for atleast the one’s who use the internet.

This service enables the PayPal account holders to send and receive money via. E-mails. In a very short time PayPal service has become one of the very popular mediums of purchasing or receiving payments over the internet. Once you get a Paypal account, you receive a credit card just like any other credit card. PayPal credit card is a convenient way of purchasing and making payments. There are many benefits of having a PayPal account. One very important benefit’s is that PayPal does not carry out any credit check before anyone opens an account. Opening a PayPal account is very simple and does not consume any of your time, one only needs to submit a valid e-mail account. Doing this, enables you instantly start purchasing and selling over the internet. After maintaining the account for a certain period of time with PayPal, you are eligible to take a debit card of PayPal. The debit card comes with a Master Card logo, which enables account holders to withdraw cash from any Master Card enabled ATM’s. Users can send money to their account by sending money order, direct payments from businesses or individuals or wire transfer.

Receiving money from PayPal is more preferred by people selling items on E-bay or Amazon. This is because it is convenient and has the guarantee of receiving payments. Though for some products Ebay and Amazon relaxes the need to pay through PayPal. But some sellers do not accept payments unless paid through PayPal.

But to tell a fact that PayPal isn’t a free service, PayPal deducts some percentage of the payment received. And probably this might be the reason for its ability to deliver such excellent service to such vast ocean of people. Inorder to reduce the percentage of deduction, one can upgrade their account to a business account. One does not necessarily be running a business to have a Business account with PayPal. The only thing one needs to do is add a bank account or credit card with your existing PayPal account. Then your account gets verified, after the verification is completed your account gets upgraded to a business account of PayPal.

French law almost to be decided for cancellation of internet connections of relentless pirates of music, movies and online games.

The users who get caught for illegally sharing of any digital media will get warning e-mails before the disconnection of internet service.

The new law is pending with the French National Assembly for the final approval. The new law has been liked by the French Senate. This law is introduced to tackle the increasing piracy of digital media over the internet.

The law has been hovering since November 2007. The French expects a much more civilized internet usage in future.

The plan includes appointment of net firms as watchdogs who would constantly monitor the consumers and if found guilty will be reported to the respective authority. The users would get two warnings and if yet found sharing copyrighted digital media then the internet connection will be cancelled. The French Senate also plans to encourage companies to install firewalls which would block content sharing by employees within the organization.

The virus is reported to steal online bank account details of almost 500,000 consumers. The virus has also affected credit card and debit card holders. This Trojan is expected to be the most advanced crimeware ever designed till date.

The Trojan has been discovered by RSA. RSA expects that computers across the planet have been infected by this Trojan virus except for approximately 2000 domains have been left safe, as declared by RSA’s security division.

RSA described that the Sinowal Trojan is one of the biggest threats for computers connected to the internet. The Trojan uses a very common infection method known as “drive-by-downloads”. The users cannot realise that their computer is getting infected as the process takes place at the backend of the computer processing. According to RSA authority, the Trojan has been operational since two and a half years and has been quietly collecting information. The group that has given birth to such a disastrous Trojan has been releasing variants of the virus periodically to keep it going.

RSA said that they have been tracking this Trojan since 2006. But have not been able to determine the generators of the virus.

Since April 2007 there have been a sudden attack explosion by various viruses over the internet, and many of the web pages have been infected.

Inorder to counteract on this issue, some simple steps can be followed for protecting the information inspite of using security softwares. RSA has adviced users to “Think before you CLICK any web link”. A lot of web traffic means more money and which can prove to be a boon for the criminals. Users should also analyze if their bank showed a rise in any kind of online forms of authentication or have asked to provide different account details or any social security number in the recent past.

Though not clicking on any web link might not keep the users 100% secure, but this can definitely reduce the chances of attacks.

Various law enforcement agencies have been alerted for the same reasons.

Once a computer fails it can be both time consuming and a costly affair trying to restore it.

Here are some important and simple points to avoid computer failures :

ENVIRONMENT CONDITIONS

• PC should not be kept near heating or cooling surfaces. It should not be kept at a place where its exposed to direct sunlight. Both extensive heat and cold are enemies for a PC.
• PC manufacturers recommend PC`s to be kept in a humidity controlled environment. But it should not be kept at a place where air conditioner blows direct air on the system.
• PC’s air vents and fans should be kept unobstructed and dust free.
• Smoking near the PC should be strictly avoided.
• The unit should be kept away from water sources.
• Surge protector should be used. Using such protectors keeps the hard drive safe from deletion of data.
• The PC should be kept dust free as dust hampers its capability of cooling. Blowing compressed air on the mother board and other components on a regular basis is recommended.
• Before cleaning the PC it should be unplugged. Proper grounding is essential for avoiding hit from static electricity.
• Always store the documents that come with the unit, as you might probably need them in future for reference.

DATA MAINTENANCE

• Latest patches and service updates should be installed, specially for Windows based PC’s, it would help you fix bugs and security exploits.
• The root directory should be organized. Only system’s startup and software initialization files should be kept in the root directory.
• Data files should be kept in a different directory and not the file where you save the software. This would avoid the possibility to overwrite the software file.
• Back up rescue disks should be kept handy.
• Back up of important data should be kept in a removable medium.

HARD DRIVE AND HARDWARE MAINTENANCE

• Windows comes with a disk cleanup function which clears the temporary files. Using the tool helps freeing additional hard disk space.
• Regular Defragmentation should be done.
• If you are using a track ball mouse then its rollers should be regularly cleaned up.
• Monitors (CRT) should be cleaned with a glass cleaner. Do not spray the cleaner directly on the screen, instead spray it on the cloth and then wipe the screen with the cloth.
• Most LCD monitors can be cleaned with isopropyl.
• Always be sure to update drivers and software for your expansion cards, such as video or sound cards.

ANTIVIRUS

• An anti virus that automatically scans the PC at start up.
• The antivirus should be updated on a daily basis.
• Unless you are confident about certain file you should not download files from the internet.
• Try to avoid opening attachments in emails received from unknown sources.

A recent research has concluded that searching on Internet boosts brains power for middle and older individuals.

A team from Los Angeles California based University has suggested that searching the web stimulates centres in the brain which control decision making and complex reasoning.

Searching the web can help counter act the age related physiological changes that tends to slow down brain activities.

A number of changes occur in the Brain as the age increases. The brain tends to shrink and there is a reduction in its cell activities which hampers its performance.

Activities such as solving puzzles, playing chess, games help keep the brain cells active. Surfing web too can help serve the purpose.

Researchers said “The results of the study are encouraging, the emerging computerized technology may have physiological effects and potential benefits for middle aged and older individuals”.

Internet surfing help improve complicated brain functions.

The study was done on twenty four individuals between the age group 55 to 76. Half were used to surf the web and the others were not.

Every volunteer had to undergo brain scan at the time of surfing the web and reading book.

There was a considerable activity seen in the areas of the brain controlling language, reading, memory and visual ability. However, there was an additional activity seen in separate areas of the brain which control decision making and complex reasoning. This additional activity was seen only in the individuals who were regular web surfers.

The comparison was between reading and web surfing. Web surfing concluded that from the vast sea of information making a decision of clicking a particular link which had a relevant information showed activity in that part of the brain.

The research also concluded that the brain is sensitive and can continue to learn even at older age. Such brain stimulating activities can reduce the risk of dementia.

There is a huge variation in the speeds of Internet been accessed by British individuals.

The major factor of the connection speed is the distance between the telephone exchange and the end user’s place of accessing the web. There is a significant difference between the users accessing the web in the countryside which is slower than the one’s using it in towns.

Just run a test given below to know your current connection speed of the Internet.

There are various factors that can affect the speed of the speed of the web, it may depend upon your broadband package, location from the exchange, the other customers are online in your area, configuration of your computer, the applications that are installed on your computer, which time you are accessing the web and of course the weather too plays a crucial role in its speed.

Please bear in mind that this service is kindly offered by BBC site and speed might fluctuate over the day.

To Test Your Connection Please Click the below Tab.

TEST THE SPEED.

Is It Running Like This?Or Like This?

Hackers are ready to grab the oppotunity of one wrong move from you.

India is adding almost 8 million cell phone subscribers per month and SMS is the heavily used service. Hence it’s a boon for hackers to target such susceptible users.

One of the users recently got a SMS and was happy and amazed, thanked his/ her goodwill. This was because of a SMS that declared the user was a winner of $3 million prize from Shell International Mobile draw. To claim the amount, user was asked to send an e-mail and call an international number. Later when she tried to recall if ever in the past the user had used any if the Shell products or service. Then to her amazement she had never done so. To get a clear picture of this message, the user called up the Shell International number, the officials denied by saying that there was no such draw that had been done and had not issued any award to anyone.

This is the world of vishing or voice phishing where hackers use VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol), SMS and Internet to bait someone. Hackers collect critical information, may be about your bank accounts saying they need to transfer the awarded amount to your account. But instead they do this for their own financial gains.

In the above given case the hacker used mobile spamming and vishing.

An estimated $2.8 billion have been lost because of Phishing, with a single victim losing $1,244 in 2006, whereas in 2005 it was $257.

There has been a substantial increase in phishing since the beginning of this year. 2006 was the first time when phishing was reported. Such attacks have increased on the US financial institutes and individual users.

In today’s age most people use personal computers and access Internet. But not much people are aware of Online Security. Many people still commit mistakes that gives chance for thieves to take advantage.

Below are seven mistakes that people usually commit and ways to avoid them.

1. Assuming your security software is protecting you

It is a common belief that once installing an anti-virus software will keep the computers safe. But that isn’t true, viruses keep coming all the time. So the software must be activated properly and should be regularly updated for effectively lowering threats. One should ritually check is the security software is active when working online. The software’s auto update option should be kept activated in order to have an updated version.

2. Accessing an account from an e-mail link

It is suggested not to do that. If you get an e-mail from your bank asking you to update your financial or personal information, better be aware that it might be a hacker who is waiting to empty your account.

These e-mails are especially insidious as they come adorned with genuine corporate logos and look legitimate.

People usually fall prey to such e-mails. Most of the banks have stopped sending e-mails for any update in customer information due to this threat.

But as we all are aware that net banking is used by most of us, we should only use the banks address in your browser and not by clicking on any link that you have received through an e-mail.

3. Using a Single password for all your online accounts.

This is a common mistake seen in almost every individual, instead of keeping or remembering N number of passwords we keep only one and that too a simple one. This can lead you to a disaster. There are much code-cracking software available which the cyber-crooks use to uncover the passwords.

Another convenient way to remember your password is making variations in your password on a regular basis. This should help you remember your password. Your password should be of atleast 8 characters with letters in both the cases and should have numbers and punctuations to make it stronger and difficult to uncover.

4. Downloading Free Software.

There is nothing wrong in doing so, but it should be done from the locations which you are 100% sure of about its safety.

Some “free” software comes loaded with spyware, which clogs your computer with ads or employs a keystroke-capture program to steal your personal information. It is recommended that you download only from such reputable sites as Download.com or SnapFiles.com, or, if you have a PC, scanning it with Windows Defender software.

5. Thinking your Mac shields you from all risks

Its not incorrect that Mac’s are less susceptible to viruses and spyware than regular Personal Computers. But as per surveys, Mac’s too have been targeted and its user`s have fallen prey to hackers.

Latest version of Firefox browser is recommended for use.

6.  Clicking On pop-ups and ads that say you PC is not secure

Its pretty simple to click on an ad by mistake and then get re-directed to another spyware site.

It is recommended that those ads should be carefully closed by the close tabs located on the top left or right corner of the add window. Or you can also enable pop-up blocker or instead use a free one from Google toolbar.

7.  Shopping Online just as we do in stores.

While doing online shopping you are not sure that who’s on the other end and if s/he really is interested in doing business. But still always make sure that the web-site’s URL starts with “Https” which offer higher security than “Http” should be used if you are giving your address and Credit Card information.

Different credit cards should be used for different purposes. For Example: One for your business transactions and a different one for online purchase