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Frequently asked questions
Our technical expert answers some of the questions he hears most often.
Why am I getting so much spam?
Where can I get virus checkers, adware blockers, spam filters?
Someone I don't know got onto my MSN list. How did they get my email?
Someone took control of my MSN account. What can I do?
How can I make sure my personal information is protected?
Where can I get information on protecting myself online?
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Why am I getting so much spam?
Without even realizing it, you may have given your email address to a company that advertises using email. Before registering for any web-based service, check the personal information policy displayed on the site. The policy will tell you whether the site shares its users' email addresses with companies that advertise by email.
Have you ever forwarded an email to your friends by putting all their email addresses on the “To” line? Anyone who receives that email down the line can copy all the addresses and spam your friends. To avoid this, use the “Bcc” (blind carbon copy) line when you want to forward a message to more than one person. The recipients will see only their own address, regardless of how many people you copy.
Where can I get virus checkers, adware blockers, spam filters?
One good source is www.majorgeeks.com/page.php?id=20, where you can find all kinds of free tools and helpful information.
Internet service providers and other large companies offer effective security tools, although these often cost money. For example, visit Videotron’s website to find out what types of security services are available.
Someone I don't know got onto my MSN list. How did they get my email?
Could have been just by chance:
- Fraudsters use software that conducts keyword searches. They use it to generate email lists from a word such as 93, sexy, girl, cool, hot, etc., and then send out emails to every address until someone responds.
Or from a chain email:
- Someone may have got their hands on an email you forwarded and extracted all the addresses in order to “work” them one by one, hoping someone will respond.
Someone took control of my MSN account. What can I do?
- Start by performing a full system scan with a virus checker and spyware removal software.
- A key-logger, which is a small software program that copies everything you type on your keyboard, including passwords, may have been installed on the computer.
- Don't use the same password for all of the applications you use (MSN, Skyblog, Facebook, etc.). If someone discovers one password, they can get into all your accounts.
- Is the secret question to recover your password too easy to guess? Make sure your question isn't too obvious, like “What colour is the sky? Blue!”
- Start over from scratch.
This might be a good time to create a new email address so you can clean up your address book and maintain your real identity: 1) Choose an address that includes your real name to write to your friends. 2) Create a junk address to enter contests or play online games.
What are cookies?
Cookies are small text files that are stored by web browsers on users' hard drives when they visit a website. Cookies contain information about the visitor to the site and are used to customize the behaviour of the site the next time he or she visits. For example, the user may not need to enter a username and password every time, since this information can be generated automatically by the cookie. Cookies make life easier for people when they visit websites by enabling the site to display customized information. Only the site that created the cookie can read the information it contains.
With old web browsers, it was possible to plant a cookie that would track a user’s web activity across many sites and collect extensive information on his or her habits. This gave cookies a bad name and people came to believe that their use was an invasion of privacy.
In response to these legitimate concerns, a technical mechanism known as P3P was created to protect Internet users against misuse of cookies.
(Source: The Internet Engineering Task Force http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2965.)
How can I make sure my personal information is protected?
- When reading a personal information policy, you should ask yourself the following questions before clicking on "I accept":
- What kind of personal information is being requested? Is this information really necessary for what I am going to do on this site?
- How will the site collect information about me? Is there a form to fill out or will cookies be used?
- What will the site use my personal information for?
- Can I decide how my information will be used and whether it will be shared? How can I do this?
- Do they guarantee that the information will be safe and secure?
- Can I access and edit the information they have about me?
- Will the site let me file a complaint about the use of my personal information? Do they respond to my questions?
Where can I get information on protecting myself online?
Consult the useful links section on this site.
What are "social networks"?
Social networks or media are online communities where people socialize electronically (over the Internet). People use social networks to send messages, share photos or videos and talk about their personal interests.
Examples of social networks include Facebook, Hi5, MySpace, Skyblog, and Friendster.
