USM Spam Problems - USM Forum -- Message Board

Reporter · Status: Offline

USM Spam Problems

Reporter · Status: Offline

FROM FACULTY SENATE LISTSERV:

Hello all:

I appreciate that SPAM is a problem, but we have been losing legitimate incoming
and outgoing e-mail for quite awhile now--and some is critical mission (e.g.,
important messages from funding agencies and so forth). We get some mail a week
or more late, some duplicate mail, and some never shows at all. Plus, some
outgoing messages never make it to their destination.

Several minor adjustments that can be made--

1. Make sure that listserves are set up to delete non-member e-mail whenever
possible.

2. Terminate any non-active listserves.

3. CC yourself all messages--this won't gurantee delivery, but may give you a
sense that their is a 50-50 chance that the message left our servers.

4. Send follow up e-mails to ask if a critical mission messages was received
(yeh, I know, don't say it).

5. Request confirmation that an e-mail was received. Some people use automatic
receipt requested functions--I personally don't like this for several reasons,
but it may work for you.

Mitchell E. Berman, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Psychology

Moderator · Status: Offline

Problems with spam was one reason this board went to registration. Most of you were in bed while we were deleting garbage every night.

Good luck. You could also cc important emails to yourself on another account to check for transmission.

Cossack · Status: Offline

This is the reason I use Comcast exclusively even when sending from the university. The USM internal mail and mail that gets sent to USM is forwarded to Comcast.

Reporter · Status: Offline

From USM mail:

Spam Reduction in Process

During the past few days the campus community has experienced an onslaught of spam in
our e-mail boxes. iTech now has two new systems online to combat this spam. The systems
are currently learning the traffic patterns of the e-mail and spam that cross the Southern
Miss network every day. During this week we will be tightening the filtering parameters
of these systems, and all members of the university community should see a reduction in
the amount of junk mail they are receiving.

Thank you for your patience.
Eugene O. Gordon
Documentation Specialist

oldtimer · Status: Offline

Cossack wrote:

This is the reason I use Comcast exclusively even when sending from the university. The USM internal mail and mail that gets sent to USM is forwarded to Comcast.

Well, I'm not in Hattiesburg any longer, but I still remember the 'mandatory legal advisory' from Shelboo's Henchcrew, that 'any email sent through the usm.edu domain is subject to monitoring', so even incoming messages sent from 'off-campus' e-accounts could be read by Jack Hanberry.

Caveat lector . . .

Cossack · Status: Offline

oldtimer,

I remember that. Even at the university, I have my computer SMPT set to Comcast. It would have to be captured when it left or arrived which is possible if they were targeting someone. What I do not know is can they take your computer from your office and go through it if you own it and it does not have a USM Property number?

oldtimer · Status: Offline

Cossack wrote:

oldtimer, I remember that. Even at the university, I have my computer SMPT set to Comcast. It would have to be captured when it left or arrived which is possible if they were targeting someone. What I do not know is can they take your computer from your office and go through it if you own it and it does not have a USM Property number?

That may be a key question. When I used my own desktop computers, I was "permitted to connect to the USM Ethernet" but the stipulation was that "Computing Services" (i.e., predecessor to iTech) would not provide any service to the hardware, nor was it covered by the university in case of loss or damage. From that, one might assume that university officials had no right of seizure.

However, as we've all seen, "what is legal" is not necessarily "what has been done or what will be done" by the current university administration.

My recommendation would be to use a laptop computer with login protection, with the strongest encryption you could devise for your login password, and also to take your computer home every night. That's what some "concerned colleagues" did while I was at USM.

LeftASAP · Status: Offline

USM's SPAM blockers are not working very well. I'm now getting more SPAM than I used to get. I emptied the Spam from my account first thing this morning. Checking now after lunch during I have more than a dozen more SPAM emails. It fact that was the only email I got this morning.

Cossack · Status: Offline

t fact that was the only email I got this morning.

Maybe they have the blocker working backwards, it is blocking none span and letting span through

wderwost · Status: Offline

To All,

I understand that the SPAM problem was inconvenient, but we have updated the processes to eliminate the large amount that we recieve daily . I want everyone to understand the technology in place is not 100% successfull, but does do and excellent job. The following stats run from midnight August 2nd to 1:15 P.M. on August 3rd approx. 13 and 1/4 hours. You will see that more then 50% of messages received were blocked as SPAM.

Total messages received 88043

Messages Blocked(SPAM) 48962

Viruses Blocked 1401

Messages Tagged/allowed 13954

Messages allowed 23726