WHAT IS EMAIL?

Email electronic mail, is the sending and receiving of messages and computer files over a communications network or the Internet. An email address is required in order to send and receive messages. A typical email address is shown and described at the right.

An ISP (Internet Service Provider) offers access to the Internet for a fee. An online service, such as AOL, offers access to the Internet as well as other services for a fee.

The Address Book is a tool that contains contact names and email addresses. It is automatically updated when a contact that includes an email address is added to the contact list.

First there is the user name (professor) that refers to the recipient's mailbox. Then there's an at sign (@). Next comes the host name (learnthenet), also called the domain name. This refers to the mail server, the computer where the recipient has an electronic mailbox. It's usually the name of a company or organization.

Top-Level Domains

The end of the domain name consists of a dot (".") followed by three or more letters (such as .com and .gov) that indicate the top-level domain (TLD). This part of the domain name indicates the type of organization or the country where the host server is located.

These top-level domains are currently in use:

.aero--For the air-transport industry

.biz--Reserved for businesses

.com--For businesses, commercial enterprises, or online services like America Online. Most companies use this extension.

.coop--Reserved for cooperatives

.edu--For educational institutions and universities

.gov--Reserved for United States government agencies

.info--For all uses

.int--For organizations established by international treaties

.mil--For the United States military

.museum--For use by museums

.name--For use by individuals

.net--For networks; usually reserved for organizations such as Internet service providers

.org--For non-commercial organizations

.pro--For use by professionals, such as attorneys and physicians

More information about top-level domains is available at the website of ICANN, the organization that administers TLDs.

For e-mail addresses outside of the United States, there is often a two letter country code. For instance, .ca indicates Canada, .uk indicates the United Kingdom and .mx indicates Mexico. Here's a complete list of Internet country and territory codes.

E-Mail Address vs. Web Address

The chart below shows the difference between an e-mail address and the address of a website, also known as a URL.

For a fascinating history of the now ubiquitous @ sign, read "Where It's At."

EMAIL VIRUSES

Many computer viruses have been associated with email attachments. A virus is a program that is designed to reproduce itself by copying itself into other programs stored on a computer without the user’s knowledge. Viruses have varying effects, such as displaying annoying messages, causing programs to run incorrectly, and erasing the contents of the hard drive. Precautions need to be taken to avoid getting a virus:

§  Invest in antivirus software to detect many types of viruses. The software scans incoming email before it is opened. If a virus is detected, the software will display a warning and try to remove the virus.

§  Update the antivirus software frequently because new viruses are continually being created.

§  Always save an attachment file that you are not familiar with and then virus-check the file before opening it. Better yet, just delete and mail/attachments that you do not know the sender or organization.

THE LOVE BUG VIRUS

In May 2000, the Love Bug virus spread around the world erasing data and shutting down electronic communications. This virus was in an attachment of what appeared to be a friendly email message with the subject line I LOVE YOU. This virus infected many computers including those at the Pentagon, NASA, the House of Commons in London, and Ford Motor Corporation.

WORMS

A worm is a type of virus that can reproduce itself and use the memory of a computer, but it cannot attach itself to a program.