Email Spoofing - Getting Emails from Yourself

From time to time, we receive comments from clients that someone has managed to hack in to their email accounts and send out emails to third parties.

This is actually not hacking activity but something known as email spoofing. The emails are actually not coming from our server or our clients’ domain, but made to look like so.

Let’s say your domain is joe@xyzcompany.com - it is very easy for someone to create an email account with that name and send it from another server, although it is actually coming from elsewhere. In fact if you think about it, it is just as easy for someone to forge a letter using your company name and post it to a third party.

On the other hand it is much more difficult to hack into a well-configured server. In most cases, people with such skills would not waste their time hacking into your emails but rather into banks and payment systems. There is simply bigger fish to catch, so to speak.

So why would someone do email spoofing using your domain name? There could be many reasons, eg:
- Pranksters who see it as fun
- Competitors who are trying to make you look bad
- Saboteurs who want to get your IP address blacklisted
- Phishing activities

So what do you do if you are a Victim of Email Spoofing?

If you really want to, you can trace the IP address and try to identify the source but it will be difficult to trace the actual culprit. Depending on the content of the spoof email, the recipient may just ignore it completely rendering the sender’s efforts worthless. If the email content is important, the recipient can always call you up to confirm especially if common sense says to do so. If there is phishing activity, it may involve criminal
elements and you can always lodge a police report and let the appropriate authorities follow up.

Check out an article from New Straits Times on Email Spoofing recently.

Webmail Upgrade

We are currently in the process of upgrading the SmarterMail webmail system in some of our servers to SmarterMail Enterprise 5.1. If you are upgraded to this version and wish to set your spam filters, you can follow these steps:

1. Click on the Settings button at the top
2. Click on Domain Settings at the left, followed by Spam Filtering
3. Click Overide Spam Settings for this Account
4. Click on Actions and then set your required % weightings

Refer here for the meaning of each criterion. Note that only the Admin login can set the percentage weightings. You can also use Content Filtering to filter keywords in selected fields.

In addition you can use whitelisting (Trusted Senders) to make sure emails from your trusted contacts get through.

TM Net & MS Outlook Settings

If you are using Streamyx/TMnet to access the Internet and MS Outlook or Outlook Express as you mail client, you may need to change your MS Outlook settings.

In December last year, TM Net started blocking Port 25 as highlighted in our previous announcement: http://www.connect.com.my/news.php?id=17

Since then, further network changes have been made and we therefore advise clients to change your Outlook settings to as follows:

Outgoing Mail Server: mail.yourdomain.com or mail.yourdomain.com.my
Outgoing Server Port: Change from 25 to 587

Remember to enable “My Server Requires Authentication”.

Contact us on 03-8060 3060 if you require further assistance.

Setting up WordPress with your Budget Web Hosting

Budget Hosting = Blogger Friendly

If you are using our Budget Hosting package and are looking to start blogging, here’s a step-by-step instruction to install WordPress so you can get started quickly.

Within minutes, you’ll have a FREE WEBSITE with a powerful content management system that makes your updating job so easy!

Read the rest of this entry »

Yahoo Email Blocking

Many people have noticed that Yahoo has been overly aggressive in blocking emails over the past few months. While this has reduced spam for Yahoo mail users, it has also blocked off legitimate emails from many people in Malaysia.

If you are using a Yahoo email account, you may not be receiving many legitimate emails and should check your junk box regularly to retrieve your good mails.

Besides Yahoo email users, some web hosting companies and web service providers are getting their fair share of problems as well.

For more information, check out this excellent blog posting by AHFX.

Introducing dot Asia

Following the recent introduction of dot asia extension (.asia), this means that you will now be able to register yourname.asia, yet another option which lets you project a great image for your business.

Many good names in the .asia extension have been snapped up already.

But compared to dot com, it is still early days and chances are that your company name may be available still.

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Connect Web Hosting Launches New Website

Connect.com.my is pleased to announce the launch of our new website.

In addition to the new look, our second generation site also features more streamlined navigation and user friendly interface.

The order process for .my domain names is now integrated for your convenience. In addition to the standard .com.my registration, you can now order .my domain name through our online system as well.

.com.my RM 100 per year
.my RM120 per year

We take this opportunity to thank all our customers for your support over the years. The new website marks our commitment to continually improve our services and support to you.

2005 – 2008

2008-04-11

Coming Soon… free web design templates & tools for all customers!