If you’ve ever been “phished,” you’ve experienced the dangers of receiving phony emails, downloaded files, instant messages, or links to false websites masquerading as real ones—all designed to steal your data, your identity, or most likely, your money.
You need to be vigilant to not fall for these scams, but vigilance is not enough these days. You need the help of top-notch security software, such as Trend Micro Security. Its sophisticated anti-phishing technologies can help protect you from being scammed.
In this four part “Protect Your Net” series, I’ll teach you how to set up Trend Micro Internet Security, Maximum Security, or Premium Security to optimize your protection against phishing. Specifically, I’ll provide instructions for setting up the following features, with the topic for the week highlighted in bold:
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Phishing is typically carried out by email spoofing that uses malicious links to direct users to enter details at a fake website whose look and feel are almost identical to the legitimate one. If you use client email software on your computer, such as Microsoft® Outlook®, Microsoft® Outlook® Express, or Windows Live Mail (see the supported client email software and versions below), you can use Trend Micro Security’s antispam feature to intercept unwanted email messages in those programs. You can also have Trend Micro Security check for malicious attachments in emails to remove them.
OS Platform and Mail Client Support
1. To get started setting up antispam, double-click the Trend Micro Security icon on your desktop or in your system tray to load the Trend Micro Security Console.
2. Click the Settings The Password screen appears.
3. Enter your Password and click OK. The Protection Settings screen appears, with Scan Preferences selected by default.
4. Select Internet & Email Controls, then Spam & Emailed Files to open the panel.
5. Check the checkbox that says Filter out unsolicited advertisements and other unwanted email messages to activate the antispam Trend Micro Toolbar in supported versions of Microsoft® Outlook®, Microsoft® Outlook® Express, and Windows Live Mail.
6. Check the checkbox that says Check for threats in files attached to email messages. This lets Trend Micro Security scan all POP3 email messages for malicious attachments and removes them.
7. Click Apply to apply your changes. The antispam Trend Micro Toolbar activates in Outlook, Outlook Express, or Windows Mail.
8. You now need to turn on the Link Filter. In Outlook, for example, click the Add-Ins tab and the Trend Micro (antispam) toolbar displays.
9. Select Settings in the Trend Micro The Settings screen appears, with the Spam Filter tab selected by default.
10. Retain the Medium Spam Email Filter Strength, or move it to High, noting that increasing filter strength may also increase the chance of misidentifying legitimate email as spam.
11. Select the Link Filter The Link Filter screen appears.
12. Check Activate Link Filter, then accept the Medium Filtration Strength, or move it to High, which intercepts all messages containing links to any sites with a poor reputation (such as a history of spamming), and those that would definitely cause harm, deliver undesirable downloads, or seem associated with online fraud.
13. Click OK to save your changes.
The Link Filter checks the addresses of URLs in the emails you receive against an online database. Messages containing hyperlinks that pose a security risk will be moved into the spam folder.
For more information on Trend Micro Security software, go to the following website: http://www.trendmicro.com/us/home/products/software/index.html#what-it-does
For a video outlining these tutorials, go to the following YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6jjAfOexEE&list=PLZm70v-MT4Jp7ewLG3lo7hxVO_RP8WJuF&index=3
Next Week – Part 4: Setting up Wi-Fi and Instant Messaging Protection
I work for Trend Micro and any opinions expressed here are my own.
