How to Minimize and Stop Phishing Emails
by Travis Ellis, Technical Product Specialist

With the holidays fast approaching, the occurrence of phishing can skyrocket. We put together a handy little guide on how to minimize and stop phishing emails.

Enable DKIM and SPF

DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) is a powerful resource introduced in cPanel in 11.32. This tool will sign the email with a digital signature that claims responsibility for emails. This gives the ability for both users and programs to distinguish between legitimate, and potentially forged, email.

SPF (Sender Policy Framework) is an email system designed to check the identity of the domain lines up with the IP address. This again minimizes the amount of forged emails.

SpamAssassin and BoxTrapper

SpamAssassin is an email utility that attempts to filter spam by examining incoming email and testing for spam characteristics. It uses Bayesian spam filtering and network testing to screen incoming email. This results in an overall score. If an incoming message reaches a predefined score, the message is discarded.

BoxTrapper acts as a spam filter for email addresses. The filter works through “challenge-response” verification. When an email is sent to an account that has enabled BoxTrapper, BoxTrapper automatically sends a verification email in response.

Verify the URL

If you are expecting to go to example.com and enter in your username and password, look at the url in the browser to ensure that it matches where you want to go. If you expect to see example.com, but instead see 31337Hax0r.com, you are likely on the wrong site.

By following these simple steps, you can minimize phishing emails coming both to and from your server.