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Newsgroup Security Tips

by Ruben Flores    

Often, spammers use special computer programs that scan the Net and collect email addresses from newsgroup messages. They then use these addresses to send unsolicited advertisements and other junk mail...

Often, spammers use special computer programs that scan the Net and collect email addresses from newsgroup messages. They then use these addresses to send unsolicited advertisements and other junk mail, commonly referred to as spam. If you post to newsgroups, you can try adding "DELETEME" (or any word or phrase) to the outgoing email address on your newsgroup postings (e.g., username@yourdomain.com becomes

usernameDELETEME@yourdomain.com). Then add a note in the body of your message telling other users to remove the extra word from your email address if they're replying to your newsgroup message by email. Here are a few more tips for staying safe in newsgroups:

Protect personal information: Since newsgroups are open to anybody who has access to a news server, you should never post any sensitive personal information like your home phone number, address, and similar details.

Supervise children: Usenet is an adult area and should not be used by children without parental supervision. Many newsgroups deal with mature or sexually explicit subject matter. Some spammers even post sexually explicit advertisements to newsgroups that have nothing to do with sex.

Don't believe everything you read: Sometimes newsgroups can turn into huge gossip forums and rumor mills. Although a lot of information that appears on Usenet is valid, some is not. Don't act on any information you read in a newsgroup if you have doubts about the author's knowledge, authority, or credentials.

Maintain a healthy skepticism and don't accept anything as fact until you verify that the source is credible.