Week Five Objectives:
- Email safety, security and email simulation. Please note that there are probably over 500 different email clients and it is impossible to recreate every scenario possible however this will be a good, general information session.
- HANDOUT – Email Do’s & Don’ts.
Email for Beginners
Email, or electronic mail, is among the fastest and most efficient way of sending messages over the internet. Photos, documents and other items can be “attached” to the email when it is sent.
However much like there is etiquette in society, there is internet and email etiquette as well. It is important to be cognizant of this when sending electronic messages since your personal tone of voice, gestures, and facial features cannot be seen by the recipient, leaving room for misinterpretation.
Top 10 Tips for Email Etiquette
Rule #1: Email is NOT Private – Ever! Do not use email to discuss confidential information. Conversely your bank, your email provider and no one else will use this method to contact you using demanding words. If you receive an email demanding an action, chances are that it’s a hoax and no action is required on your part. Check with your financial institution to learn about the verbiage they would use to contact you via email if at all. This also means you should not send your credit card number via email or any other personal information that is sensitive like that.
Never put anything in an email message that you wouldn’t put on a postcard. You never know where the email will end up – it could be forwarded or shared with unintended audiences. You might also inadvertently send something to the wrong party, so always keep the content professional to avoid embarrassment.
If you’re using your companies email system for personal use, you could be fired. Email is considered company property and can be retrieved, examined, and used in a court of law. Unless you are using an encryption device (hardware or software), you should assume that all email over the Internet is not secure.
Rule #2: Use sentence case. USING ALL CAPITAL LETTERS LOOKS AS IF YOU’RE SHOUTING. Using all lowercase letters looks lazy. For emphasis, use asterisks, bold or italic formatting to emphasize important words. Do not use a lot of colors or graphics embedded in your message because not everyone uses an email program that can display them. Since the humanoid qualities cannot be viewed and only text, it is important to be aware of how what you’re stating can be interpreted.
Rule #3: Spelling, grammar and punctuation. Yes they are still important. Be sure to proof read your email prior to sending it to catch and correct all spelling, grammar and punctuation errors (subject/verb agreement, etc.). Remember all that stuff you learned in grade school in English class? Here it is again!
Overall, it’s better to be formal than sloppy. Your friends and colleagues may use commonly accepted abbreviations in email, but when communicating (especially with clients), everyone should follow standard writing protocols. Your email message reflects you (and your company), so traditional rules apply.
Rule #4: Remember that readers can’t detect your tone. Before writing any email, take into consideration your recipient. Always be polite as terseness can be misinterpreted. Also be cautious when using sarcasm and humor. Email can’t convey the nuances of verbal communication. In an attempt to infer tone of voice, some people use emoticons, but use them sparingly so that you don’t appear unprofessional. Also, don’t assume that using a smiley will diffuse a difficult message.
Rule #5: Use the subject field to indicate content and purpose. Don’t just say, “Hi!” or “From Laura”- always put something in the “subject” field. It’s helpful if you put what your email is about. Leaving the subject blank will also alert spam filters that your message may be harmful or spam since many “known spammers” do not include a subject in their faux-informative emails.
If you use email to communicate with work colleagues, consider using acronyms in the subject line to quickly identify action. For example, your team could use <AR> to mean “Action Required” or <MSR> for the Monthly Status Report. It’s also a good practice to include the word “Long” in the subject field, if necessary, so that the recipient knows that the message will take time to read.
Rule #6: Keep messages brief and to the point. Whenever possible, it’s best to concentrate on one subject per email message (unless you’re writing to your family or friends). Just because your writing is grammatically correct does not mean that it has to be long.Nothing is more frustrating than wading through an email message that is twice as long as necessary. Be as direct and to the point as possible without sounding demanding.
It’s also a good practice to summarize emails with a lot of replies. It’s annoying to scroll through pages of replies to understand the discussion and important points could be missed. Instead of continuing to forward a message string, take a minute to summarize it for your reader. You could even highlight or quote the relevant passages, then include your response. Some words of caution:
- If you are forwarding or reposting a message you’ve received, do not change the wording.
- If you want to repost to a group a message that you received individually, ask the author for permission first.
- Give proper attribution to the author.
Rule #7: BCC and CC overuse.When emailing in a business atmosphere, its best to use the blind copy and courtesy copy appropriately. Don’t use BCC to keep others from seeing who you copied; it shows confidence when you directly CC anyone receiving a copy. Do use BCC, however, when sending to a large distribution list, so recipients won’t have to see a huge list of names. Be cautious with your use of CC; overuse simply clutters inboxes. Copy only people who are directly involved.
Rule #8: Use a signature that includes your contact information. Your signature line will help ensure that people know who you are and how to get in touch with you. The signature line typically includes your contact information: including your mailing address, Web site, and phone numbers.
Rule #9: Don’t send chain letters, virus warnings, or junk mail. Always check email with a reputable antivirus program (or check with your IT department) before sending out an alarm. If a constant stream of jokes or political commentary from a friend annoys you, be honest and ask to be removed from the list. Direct all personal e-mail to your home e-mail account – never your business account.
Rule #10: Never respond to questionable email – Ever! Never answer an email from someone you do not know and never include any personal/financial information. The best choice for email from someone unknown to you – delete it. You do not have to reply to each and every email that is sent to you. This also includes “unsubscribing” from certain emails lists. Sometimes by “unsubscribing” you are in essence validating that the email address (yours) is indeed valid and then you will receive MORE unwanted email. The easiest and safest method is to delete things that are sent to you by unknown recipients.
Free Email Providers
If you do not have email and would like to have an account, you can establish one for free by filling out the brief form at a variety of websites. This list is in no way all-inclusive however it does list some of the more popular free email providers.
- http://www.yahoo.com
- http://www.outlook.com
- http://www.gmail.com
Be sure your write down your screen name or login name that you choose as well as your password and keep it in a safe place.
Email Security
Creating a Strong Password
Before we begin, you must understand one thing: there is no such thing as a perfect password. A committed hacker can crack any password, given enough time and the right tools. But just like breaking into a car, if the protection is strong enough, the hacker will become discouraged and look for an easier target. Know too that there isn’t someone sitting by their computer who is just waiting for you to create an email account for them to hack into. It is much more random than that and it is rarely personal.
Most passwords need to be between 8 and 15 characters in length. It is suggested that you use at least one capital letter, at least one letter and at least one “special character” – they can be found above the number keys and accessed by pressing the “shift” key and the corresponding numeric key.
It is recommended that you don’t use your name, address, birthdate, or anything that could be easily guessed.
- Pick a word or multi-word phrase that has meaning to you
- Mix one or two letters to be upper case
- Change one or two letters into numbers
- Then insert one or two special characters
So for me, my name is John Larson. A terrible password would be J0Hn_L@r50n – even though it uses capital letters, a number and a special characters, it is still my name.
Another easy naming method is to use something you like and that you can remember, like cheese and apples can be mixed it up like this: cH33se@ppl3z
This would take a hacker a relatively long time to come up with and is therefore considered a “strong” password.
Changing Your Password for Security
It is recommended that you change your password every month and to not “recycle” your password on multiple sites. Now of course the challenge lies in memory. If you write down which passwords go with which accounts, be sure to not keep it at your computer incase mayhem enters your life in some way, that way mayhem cannot get ahold of your passwords by taking your list next to your computer.
How Do People Get into Your Account?
While we don’t provide an instruction manual on how to do this, there is adequate information about the process to share. Generally, hackers use one of two major techniques: password recovery (an administrator’s technique) and “brute force” repetition. The password recovery tries to fool your computer system into trusting the backer as a legitimate administrator. Brute force is simple repetitive attempts at your password, up to hundreds of attempts per minute to crack it.
Brute Force Repetition
Hackers often use software tools called “brute force dictionaries” – software that quickly recombines English dictionary words with thousands of varying combinations of spellings (yes much like a Hollywood safecracker movie scene, but slower and less glamorous).
Brute force dictionaries always start with simple letters like “a” and “aa” and “aaa” and then eventually moved to full words like “dog” or “doggie” or “doggy”. These brute force dictionaries can make up to 50 attempts per minute in some cases. Given several hours or days, these dictionary tools will overcome any password. The secret is to make it take several days to get to your password.