Incredibly now, it’s the lead up to Christmas which means more online activity sharing with the people who are important to you as well as shopping, organizing events and researching festive products and services through Yahoo!7 Search.  So I urge you to ‘stay safe online’ during this busy period by adhering to the excellent advice on the Stay Safe Online initiative.

You may be planning holidays but remember that spammers don’t ease up at this time and security can be compromised if you’re not vigilant.  Whilst Yahoo!7 has powerful and effective tools to prevent spam, detect spamming activity and reduce the risk of compromised email accounts, it’s a daily and industry-wide problem.  Damage can occur through a variety of ways – malicious software being installed silently on computers, users logging in unknowingly via a phishing page, having a common or easy-to-crack password and more.  In these cases, it’s vital to change your email password and scan your computers immediately to secure your account.

1) Change your password immediately – you can change your Yahoo!7 email account password at https://edit.yahoo.com/config/change_pw.  If you can no longer access your account, you can get a new password at https://edit.yahoo.com/forgotroot/.  Important: If you use the old password at other sites, we recommend you change it for those accounts as well. Furthermore, don’t revert to the old password at any time; that password can never be used safely again for any of your accounts.
2) Scan your computers for malicious software. If you have an anti-virus program installed, make sure to update it and then run a scan. Do this for both your personal and work computers (ideally you should be doing this periodically – put it in your Calendar). If you don’t have an anti-virus program and are using a Windows computer, you can try Microsoft’s free, anti-virus program here. For more advice and information on keeping your online experience safe, and your email and computers secure, visit the Yahoo! Security Center.

I hope you’ll never have to take these steps with your Yahoo!7 mail account but it’s better to be safe than sorry, that’s for sure!  So enjoy connecting with with your friends, family and colleagues safely and securely as we head towards Summer.

Last month, the newest version of Yahoo!7 Mail went live.  Some of you may have already seen and used it in beta form but now it’s dropped its ‘beta’ tag to become our latest and greatest Yahoo!7 Mail!  We’re proud of it and pleased to offer it to you.  We hope you upgrade soon – it’s easy, just go to our Mail Microsite to upgrade and enjoy the benefits:

Faster: This version of Yahoo!7 Mail is 2x faster than our previous versions of Yahoo!7 Mail, even for those with slower internet connections.
Safer: Globally, Yahoo! blocks over 550 billion spam messages a month and our advanced SpamGuard technology and anti-phishing platform have helped us reduce spam reports by 60 percent.  Here’s to a clean inbox!
Easier: Getting things done in Yahoo!7 Mail is even easier with features like rich photo slideshows, chatting with Facebook friends and instantly responding to messages with the reply bar.  We’ve also got over 50 themes so you can personalise your Mail box the way you like it – just drop down Options menu!

We’ve been building this new Mail for a while now and continually fixing things and releasing new functionality every few months. Have a look at our Help page for some tips to guide you during the migration process – click here.

Finally, even though the ‘beta’ label is no longer on the Mail product, we’re continuing to improve Yahoo!7 Mail.  There is a long list of features and functionality we’re tackling in the coming months and you’ll be hearing more!

We hope you enjoy using the new Yahoo!7 Mail.

1.      Install and renew your security software and set it to scan regularly.
2.      Turn on automatic updates on all your software, including your operating system and other applications (this will mean you have the latest version).
3.      Think carefully before you click on links and attachments, particularly in emails and on social networking sites.
4.      Regularly adjust your privacy settings on social networking sites.
5.      Report or talk to someone about anything online that makes you uncomfortable or threatened – download the Government’s Cybersafety Help Button (click here for more info).
6.      Stop and think before you post any photos or financial or personal information about yourself, your friends or family.
7.      Use strong passwords (including capital letters and numbers) and change them at least twice a year.
8.      Talk within your family about good online safety.

Visit www.staysmartonline.gov.au for more information, advice and tips on safe and secure online practices.

• PROTECT YOUR IDENTITY – your personal details are private and invaluable – keep them that way and away from scammers
• DON’T RESPOND – ignore suspicious emails, letters, phone calls or text messages – press ‘delete’, throw them out or just hang up
• DON’T LET SCAMMERS PUSH YOUR BUTTONS – scammers will play on your emotions to get what they want
• RESIST THE PERSONAL TOUCH – watch out for scammers posing as someone that you know and trust, or pretending to know you.

Scammers stop at nothing to target victims, including adopting a personal touch. Increasingly scammers are finding ways to get information about your personal profile and use this to play on your relationships with people and organisations you know and trust.

The effects of scams on victims can be devastating, potentially causing psychological, financial, familial and social harm. Scams can also have a considerable impact on business, with fraudsters’ misuse of people’s trust in reputable brands or companies having the power to shake consumer confidence to the core.

Don’t let scammers into your life – make sure you protect your identity.

Check out Scams: It’s Personal for more information on National Consumer Fraud Week, an initiative of the Australasian Consumer Fraud Taskforce.

C’mon, join the fun. Enter the Yahoo! Messenger Faceoff Contest Today!

Do you love emoticons as much as our 500,000+ Yahoo! Messenger Facebook fans do? From now through to March 18th, show us your best emoticon impression for a chance to have your face turned into a brand new Yahoo! Messenger emoticon to be added to the Yahoo! Messenger emoticon gallery.

Check out the Yahoo! Messenger Faceoff Contest on our Facebook fan page. Join the fun by simply submitting a photo of yourself imitating your favourite emoticon. Then encourage friends and family to vote for your submission in the Faceoff gallery or to submit their own photos if they think they can do better! After two rounds of voting, the winner with the most votes will have their face turned into a brand new emoticon for the world to use.

Go ahead – show the world your best smiley! If you’re too shy to submit a photo, visit the Faceoff gallery to vote for your favourites and support your friends.

Which emoticon are YOU?

- Yahoo! Messenger Team

The fine print: This contest is open to anyone in the world, not just US residents, so what are you waiting for!

Yahoo!7 understands the value of getting a range of developers together in a competitive environment so comfort zones can be challenged and amazing things can happen.  The data the participants will be accessing is provided by the government so is open and allowable.  Yahoo!7 has been working closely with government departments on many security initiatives recently (Safer Internet Day, and CyberSafety) and now it’s time to have some fun!  So many thanks to the organisers for putting this event on for technology enthusiasts such as ourselves (okay so we’re more than enthusiasts, we’re totally committed!).

Yahoo!7 has a score of engineers participating in this exciting and challenging government event.  Other Yahoos will also be on hand during the day to help developers, assist in proceedings and speak about the YQL platform, a platform which is speeding up the process of building great applications, such as apps for Mail.

Yahoo!7 will be doing our best to compete and we’re especially keen as not only will we be assisting external developers to more easily access appropriate government data but it’s an opportunity for our own beloved engineers to showcase their skills, hone their creativity and celebrate their involvement as cutting-edge developers.  Wish us well!

Yahoo!7 and Insafe have joined forces on Safer Internet Day to highlight ways to stay safe online when gaming or using social networking – have a look:

• Think before you post. How you represent yourself online — the way you play games, the photos and texts you share, the design of your avatar, and what you have on your profile – all add up to who you are. Invest in your online image.
• Be a good sport. Virtual games can be fun, but remember to treat other players with respect. If you wouldn’t do it on the field, don’t do it online either.
• Take action and report bullying. If you stand by and watch, laugh, or do nothing when you see bullying happen, you become part of the problem. Take the opportunity to create positive change.
• Spread smiles with your phone. Texting is core to staying connected with your friends. What you text is a reflection of you, so be thoughtful about what you say so you can be confident that your texts portray you the right way.

Did you know that Yahoo!7 works collaboratively with industry peers, child safety groups, government and law enforcement to find new ways to protect children online? Yahoo!7 is a very proud partner to the Cooperative Research Centre for Young People, Technology and Wellbeing led by the Inspire Foundation. Yahoo!7 also supports the work of several non-profit Internet safety organisations including the Safer Internet Group, Alannah and Madeline Foundation, Bravehearts, Common Sense Media, Family Online Safety Institute, Internet Keep Safe Coalition, and the US National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children, as well as efforts from governmental groups such as the Australian Communications and Media Authority.

“Online safety has long been a priority for Yahoo!7 and we are proud to celebrate Safer Internet Day with our Yahoo!7 Safely site in Australia,” said Samantha Yorke, Legal Director for Yahoo!7.   “With Yahoo!7 Safely, we are giving children, teens, and parents the tools they need to make smart digital decisions and to deal with the important online issues they face every day. It’s important that we take a proactive approach and work together as a global community to help foster a safer online experience for all children.”

The first initiative – Yahoo!7’s recently launched Australian safety website http://au.safely.yahoo.com/ – brings together a wealth of information and resources for parents and educators to encourage everybody’s safety online.  It provides simple tools and useful resources so parents and educators can take an active role in influencing how teens and younger children can make smarter and safer choices online.   Of course, Yahoo!7 wants to provide teens with resources as well, so the site features a ‘Teens’ tab with language geared towards teens.

The Yahoo!7Safely website covers important topics such as managing digital reputations, avoiding cyber-bullying, and learning how to minimise risks on mobile phones.   It also showcases safety features from many of the Yahoo!7 online services, including Yahoo!7 Messenger, Mail, Groups, Answers, Games, Search, Mobile, Pulse and Flickr.   Go to Yahoo!7Safely and have a look around – there’s bound to be something new for you to learn or discuss with your community.

The second initiative, the ‘cybersafety button’, is from the Federal Government’s Consultative Working Group on Cybersafety – of which Yahoo!7 is an active participant – specifically the Dept of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy (DBCDE).  The Group recently developed a free app that sits on a user’s desktop and provides links to the Help pages of many popular online products and services.  It also provides general advice and tips around staying safe online.  Yahoo!7 is very pleased to be involved in this online safety initiative as it offers a range of cyber safety information in one spot.  Click here to read more about the cybersafety button and to download it.

Yahoo!7 welcomes your feedback via cybersafety@ymail.com and looks forward to hearing your views on how we can make the Yahoo!7Safely site and the cybersafety button even better!

• Always be cautious when accessing your account when using unsecure Wi-Fi networks. Consider accessing your account only on networks that use WPA-enabled secure Wi-Fi connections. And, you should only connect to Websites that use cookie-based authentication.
• Sign up for a personal VPN service and use it when you connect to a public Wi-Fi network. If you’re using a work computer that has VPN software, activate it.

• Multiple Mail accounts – add accounts and swap seamlessly between them
• Photo browsing – view photo attachments from inside the Inbox with fast photo preview
• Install Yahoo!7 Messenger on your Android to see your Contacts’ online presence within Mail, as well as Instant Message or Video Call them without leaving Yahoo!7 Mail
• Sync up your Contacts – access your Yahoo!7 Contacts from your device’s contact app with ease, wherever you are in the operating system.

Visit the Android Market today and download the app to your phone.  Start using your Yahoo!7 Mail on your Android to communicate wherever you are via Yahoo!7 Mail.