Should You Be Usinge-Mail In Your Business?
By Cliff Ennico
www.creators.com
nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; It may seem odd to be asking this question in2009.nbsp; After all, the Internet has been with us for about 15years, and e-mail was one of the first "killer apps" to emerge in theInternet era.nbsp; Everybody uses e-mail, for just about everything,and I'd be willing to bet there are literally trillions of e-mailsfloating around in cyberspace leaving an amazing archaeological recordof how we all lived our lives at the dawn of the Third Millennium A.D.
nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; But something that happened to me recently has mademe wonder whether we should be relying so much on e-mail.
nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Earlier this year, I woke up one morning to find Icouldn't receive e-mails.nbsp; I contacted my Internet ServiceProvider (ISP) and, after several hours, was informed that one of mywebsites #150; the one my primary e-mail address is tied to - had beeninvaded by a "worm" program.nbsp; Apparently someone had deduced mypassword, and was using my address to send "please wire money to ourbank account in Lower Slobbovia" e-mails to everyone in my e-mailaddress book.
nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; My ISP changed my password, and I started gettinge-mails again.nbsp; I thought that was the end of it, until several ofmy law clients complained that their e-mail messages to me were notgetting through.nbsp; They said they were receiving "bounceback"messages from their ISPs saying, in effect, that my e-mail addressdidn't exist.nbsp; Most of the frustrated clients were using one ofthe large cable companies as their ISP.
nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; I called my ISP, who in turn called tech support atthe large cable company.nbsp; It seems that his e-mail server had been"blacklisted" by the cable company because of all the "scam-spam"messages that had come from my e-mail address when the "worm" programhad taken it over.nbsp; The two ISPs exchanged a few numbers, theserver was removed from the cable company's "blacklist", and I wasassured the problem was solved.
nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Except that I kept receiving calls from frustratedclients, using other ISPs, saying that my e-mail address still wasn'tworking.
nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; A couple of weeks ago I had to travel across countryon business, which meant accessing my e-mails from the road using myISP's "webmail" program.nbsp; When I logged into my webmail account, Iwas shocked to discover that the name on my account was that of the"scam-spam" fraudster.nbsp; Apparently my ISP neglected to change theidentity on the account when they changed my password, so that everytime I sent a message, replied to a message or forwarded a message,unbeknownst to me the fraudster's "scam-spam" message was being tackedon at the end of my legitimate message.
nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; As a result, a number of large ISPs were continuingto "blacklist" my ISP's e-mail server, which explained why some clientscould not communicate with me via e-mail.
nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Needless to say, I had some choice words for myISP.nbsp; While it appears (at least for now) that there are notag-along "scam-spam" messages on my outgoing e-mail messages, I amstill occasionally getting calls from people saying their messages tomy primary e-mail address are bouncing back to them.nbsp; And I amsure a lot of people who are trying to reach me for the first time viae-mail have not been able to get through.
nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; I am being told the only way I can be 100% certainthe problem has been solved would be to change my primary e-mailaddress to a different website - something I am extremely reluctant todo, as I have used my address for almost 15 years now and would have togive notice to thousands of people.nbsp; To say nothing of thehundreds of articles I have written that are posted somewhere on theWeb and which prominently feature an e-mail address that would nolonger be valid.nbsp;
nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; My purpose in sharing this with you is not merely tovent my frustration.nbsp; It is to point out that, even in the year2009, there are serious and unresolved issues with e-mailcommunications.nbsp; In light of my recent experience, I am no longersure that communication via e-mail is 100% reliable, dependable, orsecure.nbsp; My faith in e-mail has been shaken to the core, and I amnot sure you should trust your sensitive business communications toit.nbsp;nbsp;
nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; So if you are sending me an e-mail message inresponse to this column, please use the e-mail address below - the lasttime I checked, it was still working.nbsp; If you are using anothere-mail address for me, and I have not responded to an e-mail messageyou have sent me, you now know the reason why.nbsp; If I have made younervous about communicating via e-mail, please call me, or send me aletter.
nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; And PLEASE, whatever you do, do not send any moneyto a bank account in Lower Slobbovia because you think I asked you to.
Cliff Ennico (
cennico@legalcareer.com
)is a syndicated columnist, author and former host of the PBS televisionseries 'Money Hunt'. This column is no substitute for legal, tax orfinancial advice, which can be furnished only by a qualifiedprofessional licensed in your state. To find out more about CliffEnnico and other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit ourWeb page at
www.creators.com
or visit
succeedinginyourbusiness.com
.COPYRIGHT 2009 CLIFFORD R. ENNICO. DISTRIBUTED BY CREATORS SYNDICATE,INC. Permission granted for use on DrLaura.com.
