4 Email Account Security Tips

Posted on May 9, 2013 by Chris Chase

submitted by Peter Chronis

These days criminals are using a variety of techniques to compromise and gain access to accounts across the Internet. They then often use these compromised accounts to send spam or gain unauthorized access to a victim’s private information (emails, banking information, etc.).

Just take a look at all the recent stories about stolen passwords and hacked accounts from some of the most popular sites on the Internet today.

To reduce the risk of getting your accounts hacked into or compromised, we recommend that you take the following precautions to protect yourself:

1. Be Careful What You Click
Never reply to emails or click on email links that ask for your username and password. Our spam prevention partners have tracked a significant increase in phishing worldwide. Criminals often use phishing scams to help gather credentials. Phishing is a term used to describe false emails sent from spammers claiming to be sent from a legitimate company (for example, EarthLink or well-known banks) and asking for your username and password. These fraudulent emails may look quite authentic – so beware.

2. Use Varying Usernames and Passwords
Don’t use the same username and password across multiple sites like email, banking and social network sites. Recent security research revealed that, on average, people use the same credentials to log into 49 different sites. Email usernames and passwords can be acquired from security breaches suffered by other service or product providers (tens of millions of credentials have been reported this year alone by other service or product providers). If you are using the same password for your EarthLink account as other accounts that were breached, then spammers may use this information to access your EarthLink email and send spam.

For these reasons, it’s good to have a system to generate strong, unique passwords for all the sites you use. Just follow these three simple steps.

You can change your EarthLink password here at any time.

3. Run an Antivirus Program to Curb Malware Infections
Some malware today is designed to run stealthily on your computer while it records the usernames and passwords to sites you access (your Web Mail, online banking, etc.). Some security firms are reporting malware infection rates as high as 1 in 3 computers worldwide. To protect yourself, the first step is to run an antivirus scan on your computer. This can be done with any antivirus program of your choice. EarthLink offers Norton 360 Online as a premium antivirus subscription with a Free 30-Day Trial if you want to check it out.

4. Choose Your Secret Hint and Word Wisely
A secret word or hint is often used to verify your identity when account changes are being made. You should not use information associated with you that is readily available on the Internet or through other sources. If you are unsure, try doing a quick Internet search for yourself to see what you can find. If you can find it, so can a hacker.

Stay safe out there and never hesitate to reach out if you have additional questions around email or password security.

For further support from EarthLink, visit our Knowledgebase Support Center.

Cable Internet – Troubleshooting Cable Modem Connection Issues

Posted on May 9, 2013 by Tom Sullivan

Cable Internet access is more than just extremely fast. It’s also an extremely reliable way to connect to the Internet.

But connection issues do occasionally come up. The good news? Often you can quickly and easily troubleshoot and resolve the issue by looking at the cable Internet modem lights.

So, if you ever have problems connecting to the Internet, take a look at the cable modem lights and follow these recommendations.

Cable Modem Connection Light is Out

If the light on the front of your cable modem that indicates your cable connection (it may be labeled Status, Online or Cable) is out or blinking, you will be unable to connect to the Internet.
To re-establish your Internet connection, first make sure that the coaxial cable is firmly connected to the back of your modem.
If the cable is properly connected to your modem and the light is still out, try to reset the modem.
To reset your cable modem, press and hold the Reset button for five seconds. If your modem does not have a Reset button, you will need to power cycle (turn off, then on) your modem. See the complete steps for power cycling your modem below.

Cable Modem Power Light is Out

If your modem’s power light is off, make sure that the modem is securely plugged in. Your cable modem should be plugged in and powered on 24 hours a day.
If the modem appears to be securely plugged in and the power indicator light is still out, test the outlet or power strip your modem is using by plugging something else in. You can also plug the modem into another outlet and/or power strip that you know is in good working condition.
If you have confirmed that your outlet and/or power strip are working and the cable is securely connected to the modem, but the power indicator is still off, a service call may be required. Try power cycling your modem (using the steps below) before you contact Technical Support.

Cable Modem PC Light is Out

If the light on the back of your computer (next to the Ethernet cable connection) and/or the light labeled PC on your cable modem is out while your computer is on and your operating system loaded, your network card may not be functioning correctly.
To troubleshoot your cable modem connection, try the following:
Confirm that the Ethernet cable (which looks like a slightly enlarged phone cord) is securely plugged into both the cable modem and to the back of your computer. If the cable looks securely plugged in and the light on the back of your computer or your cable modem is still out, try unplugging the cable and plugging it back in to the back of the computer first and then the back of the cable modem.
Try running the diagnostic program that came with your network card, if available.
Reset your cable modem by pressing the reset button for five seconds or power cycle your modem using the steps below.
Shut down and then restart your computer.
If the above still does not solve the problem, please contact Technical Support.

Cable Modem Light is Blinking

If you are having problems receiving email or browsing the Web, you should verify that your cable Internet modem is successfully communicating with the broadband network.
Depending upon the type of modem you are using, the cable Internet connection indicator light on the front of your modem may be labeled as Status, Online or Cable.
If that light is blinking, you may need to reset your cable modem by pressing the Reset button for five seconds. If your modem does not have a Reset button, you will need to power cycle (turn off, then on) your modem (see detailed steps below).
If, after one or two minutes, the connection light on your cable modem continues to blink, a Technical Service call may be required.

Cable Modem Light is Orange

If the light on your cable modem labeled Status is orange, you will be unable to connect to the Internet. To re-establish your connection:
1. Make sure that the coaxial cable is firmly connected to the back of your modem.
2. If the light is still orange, try to reset your cable modem. To do so, unplug the modem and leave it unplugged for one minute.
3. Plug the modem back in, and wait one or two minutes for it regain connection.
4. If the light does not turn green, a Technical Service call may be required.

How to Power Cycle Your Cable Internet Modem

Windows Users

Make sure the coaxial cable is plugged securely into your cable modem.
Unplug the cable modem from the power source.
Leave the modem unplugged for two minutes.
Plug the cable modem directly into the wall outlet.
Wait for the modem to regain block sync (this usually takes just one minute or less but may take up to five minutes).
When your cable modem lights are illuminated and steady, try visiting at least two websites.
If the lights on your cable modem are correctly illuminated but you can’t get on the Web, run winipcfg or ipconfig, verify that you have obtained a valid IP address and try release/renew.
Try once more to access a couple of websites.
If you still can’t connect to the Web, shut down your computer and turn off the power by pushing the On/Off button on your computer.
Restore the power and turn your computer back on.
Try connecting to the Web again.
If your cable lights are properly illuminated and the steps above have failed to restore your connection, you will need to call Technical Support.

Mac Users

Make sure the coaxial cable is plugged securely into your cable modem.
Unplug the cable modem from the power source.
Leave the modem unplugged for two minutes.
Shut down the computer and turn it off.
Plug the cable modem directly into the wall outlet.
Wait for the modem to regain block sync (this usually takes just one minute or less but may take up to five minutes).
Check the lights on your modem to ensure the cable lights are steady.
If the lights are illuminated, try visiting various Web sites.
If your cable lights are properly illuminated and the steps above have failed to restore your connection, you will need to call Technical Support.

How to Get EarthLink Email on Your Android Smartphone

Posted on March 7, 2013 by Tom Sullivan

If you have EarthLink high-speed or dial-up Internet access, you also get EarthLink email (up to 8 addresses with automatic spam and virus protection and other features).

Today we’ll show you how simple it is to use your EarthLink email on your Android phone.

At home, you may log on to Web Mail to get your email. On the go with an Android smartphone, you could also access the mobile version of Web Mail by going to https://m.webmail.earthlink.net/ with your phone’s web browser.

But it’s also easy to set up your Android’s built-in email app to use your EarthLink email.

Here’s a walk-through using the Samsung Galaxy S3 as an example (other Android phones will have similar steps and setting information but some details will be different). See our previous posts if you want to add EarthLink email to your iPhone or iPad.

Locate the Email app on your Home screen (you may need to scroll if you don’t see it right away).
Tap on the Email icon to open the email app.
Press the options menu to the left of the Home button.
Select Settings from the list that pops up.
At the top of the Settings page, click the plus sign +.
Under Choose an account to set up, tap Others.
Enter your EarthLink email address and password (tap the Show password checkbox if you want to make sure you entered your password correctly.
Tap the box next to Send email from this account by default if EarthLink will be your primary email account on the phone.
Tap the Next button to have your phone attempt to add email server settings automatically (if that doesn’t work you may need to go back to this step and choose Manual setup).
Confirm or change the default settings for how often you want to check for email, if you want to be notified, etc. Tap Next when you’re done.
You should get a confirmation that your account is set up. You can now choose to give the account a name (otherwise it will just be listed as your email address) and choose how your name will be displayed on outgoing messages (if you don’t change it, your username will be displayed by default). Tap Next when you’re done.
Tap Done with accounts at the bottom of the screen.

Entering Email Settings Manually

If step 9 above does not work to set up your phone automatically, you should choose Manual setup and then continue following these steps.
Tap on POP3 account.
Enter your full EarthLink email address as your User name and enter your email password.
Enter pop.earthlink.net in the POP3 server field.
In the Port field, enter 110.
Tap on the Delete email from server field and choose When I delete from Inbox.
Click Next to confirm your incoming server settings.
Under SMTP server, enter smtpauth.earthlink.net.
In the Port field, enter 587.
Tab the Require sign-in box.
Confirm your User name (should be your full email address) and password.
Tap the Next button.
Confirm or change the default settings for how often you want to check for email, if you want to be notified, etc. Tap Next when you’re done.
You should get a confirmation that your account is set up. You can now choose to give the account a name (otherwise it will just be listed as your email address) and choose how your name will be displayed on outgoing messages (if you don’t change it, your username will be displayed by default). Tap Next when you’re done.
Tap Done with accounts at the bottom of the screen.

Computer Upgrade – Optimize Before you Buy

Posted on February 11, 2013 by Chris Chase

A computer upgrade can be a tempting proposition, now that 2013 is in full swing and new computer models are going to be released; especially if you’re unhappy with your current computer’s performance. However, before you spend any money on new hardware, make sure you’ve optimized the computer you’re already using. …you may not need to upgrade at all.

Over time, your computer’s hard disk can suffer from fragmentation. In simple terms, this means your data is not being stored on the disk as efficiently as possible, and there are portions of unused space that aren’t being used to their potential. “Defragmenting” can fix this by reorganizing your disk into the most efficient configuration as possible. After defragmentation, most computers run faster, and can often seem “like new”! Why pay for a computer upgrade and buy new hardware when you can first experience what your current computer is like when running at potential?

There are a variety of companies offering this, but EarthLink’s PC Fine Tune also fixes registry and disk errors, improves start-up performance, and removes unnecessary files.

Buy new hardware for a computer upgrade, or make your computer work like new? With a FREE 30 Day Trial, you can’t lose!