This is an off-topic post that I felt could not be missed. The Register wrote today about a type of email spam that is extremely common and rather obvious BUT surprisingly it appears some Internet users are still falling for it. The article is worth the read if you have any concerns about what emails to read or not to read.

In Short
Emails that promise free games, windows security patches or updates, nude celebrity pictures, or anything that seems out of the ordinary should be deleted immediately.

A source in the Register article "recommends PC users do not open executable files attached to email messages from addresses they do not recognise or trust and to 'refrain from opening any message that purports to feature nude celebrities'."

So what is the big deal? After all it is just spam!? NO, when anyone opens this spam and clicks a link within it a malware program may be installed into the user's computer at which time the computer is added to a network of machines used to quietly send out even more SPAM. This type of attack is estimated to be responsible for up to 20% of the email SPAM we all receive today.

Please do your part and screen the email you open! In fact, I strongly recommend using a community-supported SPAM filtering program like Cloudmark Desktop (formerly Cloudmark SpamNet). Cloudmark costs only $3.40/mo. ($39.95/yr) and it does a great job of protecting my email from 95%+ of the 500-1000 SPAM I receive in a single day. My entire company has used Cloudmark to eliminate email SPAM for over 2 years and it has little or no error rate.