Email (Cambridge (CIE) IGCSE ICT)
Revision Note
What is email?
Email is a method of exchanging messages and files over the internet
The main uses of email are:
Personal communication
Professional correspondence
Marketing
Companies provide guidelines about acceptable use of emails
Guidelines about emails from a company include:
Purpose of the email
Using acceptable language
Email security, including anti-virus software
Email Guidelines & Constraints
Acceptable Language Guidelines
Acceptable and appropriate language must be used depending on the recipient and purpose of the email
An example of this includes using a professional tone when sending a work-related email
No offensive or obscene language or images should be used
No racism or violent content should be in email messages
No illegal material should be sent
The laws within a country can see that emails are monitored and people can be punished for what they write
Some additional rules to follow regarding email language include:
Include a clear subject line
Use a professional email address
Use professional salutations
Do not use all capitals as it implies shouting
Need for Security
Email security is crucial to protect sensitive information from being accessed or altered
Email inboxes should be protected by strong passwords which are frequently changed
Spam filters and antivirus software should be in place at all times to protect users' inboxes from both passive attacks and active attacks
Netiquette
Netiquette (Internet etiquette) is the need to respect others online
It is an agreement to respect the opinion of others in online forums, internet messages and emails
Some common examples to remember are:
Most posts are public and can potentially be read by anyone
A clear, inoffensive and succinct language will be used
Give a good impression of yourself, considering, the tone of writing, spelling, punctuation and grammar
Sending Emails
Email Groups
Email groups allow for mass communication with a defined set of recipients
It is easier to send out multiple emails if the addresses are grouped together
The benefit of doing this is that it ensures no one misses out on an email containing key information
A drawback of email groups is that spammers can utilise them to target a large group of people with ease
Email Operations
There are three key email operations to be aware of:
Carbon Copy (CC) - this is used when you want to include additional recipients to view the email
Blind Carbon Copy (BCC) - this is used when you want additional recipients to view the email without other recipients knowing
Forward - This allows you to send an existing email to a new recipient
Attachments - These allow files to be sent along with the email message
![8-1-effective-use-of-the-internet-email---how-to-use-it-1](https://cdn.savemyexams.com/cdn-cgi/image/f=auto,width=3840/https://cdn.savemyexams.com/uploads/2023/05/8-1-effective-use-of-the-internet-email---how-to-use-it-1.png)
Spam
What is spam?
Spam is unwanted/unsolicited junk mail which is sent in large numbers to inboxes
Spam fills the users' inboxes, often with advertising content or for phishing/spreading malware
Phishing emails will be used to act as a reputable company or organisation in the aim of getting your personal details such as usernames and passwords
How can spam emails be detected?
Spam emails often has multiple spelling or grammatical errors
They often use broken English, though this is now improving with the use of AI
Spam emails will not address you by name
Often spam emails will ask you to enter your details by clicking a link
Reputable companies have now stopped doing this to make identifying spam a lot easier
How can spam emails be prevented?
Preventing spam emails is becoming easier as email providers' anti-spam filters become stronger and more efficient
Users can ensure they do not agree to marketing emails from companies they register with
Users can also ensure they do not reply to emails with sensitive data or complete online forms for websites by clicking links in an email
Instead, they should visit the website of their own accord and then log in as usual
Worked Example
Describe the ways that a user can recognise spam and methods to help prevent it. [6]
How to answer this question:
Give a maximum of 4 bullet points on how users can recognise spam content and then a maximum of 4 points on how they can prevent spam content.
Answers:
Recognising spam (max 4):
Multiple spelling/grammatical errors
Asked to carry out tasks immediately such as click on a link
Does not ask for you by name
Stored in a SPAM folder
Email asks for personal information
Large amount of repeated emails from the same user
Lots of other similar email addresses in the send-to-box
Prevention methods (max 4):
Use a spam filter
Not filling in your details on the online form
Not replying to spam emails
Not having an auto-reply set
Not consenting to marketing when providing details to a company
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