If spam is not being filtered out in advance, then you need to recognize it yourself. In such cases only expert spam mail care will yield reliable protection. Many mails can be recognized as spam simply by their subject lines: winner notifications, offensive content, or attractive saving possibilities. When these mails come through the spam filter, the user should mark them as spam. By allocating them to the spam folder, the filter in turn learns to sort out new types of junk mail automatically.
Links and file attachments from suspicious mail should not be opened under any circumstances. Spam content is usually hiding behind these unknown senders and weird-sounding subject lines.
If malware content is accidently opened, your computer can only be saved by an anti-virus program. The purpose of this software is to recognize known viruses, Trojans, worms, spyware and so on. When malware attempts to access your computer, the anti-virus program will block it. No anti-virus program can offer complete protection since the software can only identify and block known malware. Nevertheless an anti-virus program belongs to the most fundamental security measures of a computer.
Be aware that operating systems need current updates in order to be able to stop any security breaches. It is recommended to back up your computer’s most important data onto another medium. This way you will at least have a backup copy should the system be damaged by malware. If you want to protect yourself as much as possible from spam e-mails and their consequences, you should use a spam filter, an anti-virus program, and create a backup copy. The best protection is to be cautious when opening suspicious e-mails and handing out your e-mail address.