Sure, even the smallest companies need some sort of anit-spam solution. But that doesn't mean there aren't things you can do to reduce the amount of spam you get in the first place.Dermot Harnet -- principal analyst on anti-spam engineering for Symantec -- yesterday posted Five tips for defeating spam in the SMB up at ITbusiness.ca. While the last couple tips basically say buy an anti-spam product and keep it -- and your operating system and browser -- up to date, Harnet also includes some useful reminders on minimizing spam in smaller companies.

He suggests that SMBs immediately delete spam, and unsubscribe from e-mail subscrptions you're no longer interested in. He also reminds SMBs to "be selective" about where you register your e-mail address online, and don't publish your e-mail address on the Web, suggesting using an alternate address -- perhaps even a disposable address -- for mailing lists and so on.

And he says to never click on "suspicious" links in e-mails or IMs. Good point, but how do you determine which links are suspicious?

In addition, Harnet advises SMBs to not open spam messages. If you open them, don't reply to them. If you reply, don't provide any personal information, and for heaven's sake don't buy anything from them.

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