Use the Outlook 2007 junk e-mail filters and phishing protection. The default option of Low on the Options tab in the Junk E-Mail Options dialog box provides some protection, but it might not be enough. You might want to raise the level to High and check your Junk E-Mail folder regularly to ensure that Outlook 2007 is not sending legitimate messages there. Use the International tab in the Junk E-Mail Options dialog box to block top-level domains from which you never want to receive messages or to block messages in specific languages.

Use the Safe Senders list and Blocked Senders lists. Building both your blocked and safe lists will make a considerable difference in how well Outlook 2007 can filter your e-mail.

Update the Outlook 2007 junk e-mail filters regularly. Updates for Outlook 2007 can be obtained by choosing Help, Check For Updates. You can also download updated filters from office.microsoft.com/en-us/officeupdate/.

Disable functionality that can inadvertently confirm your identity. Features like read and delivery receipts and automatic acceptance of meeting requests can confirm your identity to a spammer. Outlook 2007 lets you configure receipt processing for Internet e-mail differently from messages within your corporate network so that you can leave receipts on for your business contacts while disabling them for messages from outside the organization.

Guard your primary e-mail address. Many people have a secondary e-mail address—often from a free public provider such as Microsoft Hotmail^®—that they use when posting on message boards, newsgroups, and so on. Even so, you might want to change your e-mail address when posting it in public by changing the @ to AT or inserting extra characters (such as [email protected]). This can help prevent automated gathering of your address by spammers’ robots.

Don’t reply to spam. Even a seemingly simple unsubscribe message confirms that your e-mail address is valid, so unless you know the sender, just delete the message.

Don’t automatically download images and other online content. Spammers can verify your e-mail address when you connect to the server to download the external content in a message. Online content is blocked by default, and it’s a good idea to leave it that way. You can download content for an individual message by right-clicking the message box telling you that the content has been blocked and then selecting Download Pictures.

Don’t forward chain e-mail. These messages clutter up inboxes, expose e-mail addresses, and are all too often hoaxes. If you absolutely must forward a message, send it to only the few people who will definitely be interested, and use the BCC option for their e-mail addresses.

Never provide personal information in e-mail. Even with a trusted correspondent, you should avoid sending critical data such as credit card or social security numbers in unencrypted e-mail.

Don’t provide personal information to links you get in e-mail. If you get e-mail that appears to be from a company you do business with, don’t assume it actually is. Most e-mail that provides a link and asks for personal data is spoofed in an attempt to get you to disclose this information. If you think the e-mail might be valid, type the URL of the business into your browser rather than clicking the link in the e-mail message to be sure you end up at the correct site.

Read each Web site’s privacy policies. Get in the habit of checking privacy policies before providing your e-mail address. Sure, this can take a minute or two, but it takes more than that to delete the spam you will get if they misuse or sell your e-mail address. Most Web sites explain what they do with the information they collect; you might want to carefully consider whether to provide any information to those that do not.

Keep antivirus, spyware, and firewall protection up to date. Outlook 2007 can help you avoid most junk e-mail and the associated threats, but the most effective protection is a multilayered approach. You should also install firewall and antivirus software and make sure that it is kept up to date. You might also want to obtain utilities that protect against spyware and other malicious software.