 |
 |
Skip |  |
 |
|
 |
December 4, 2002
To: Campus Community
From: Steve Zenone, UCSC Information Security Team
Re: Holiday Email Use Reminders
As the holiday season approaches, many people send and receive holiday greetings via email. Unfortunately, some electronic greeting cards and holiday programs can spread viruses. These can cause serious problems within UCSC systems. In some cases, just one infected email is enough to create significant problems across our distributed environment.
Even seemingly friendly email notes from family and friends that direct you to pick up personal messages at legitimate sounding web sites may pose a risk. The messages may be fake. Mass-mailed viruses such as "Klez" fake the FROM address, so you could receive infected messages that appear to be from people you know and trust. The web sites also may be fake. Clicking on the URL and downloading from the site may unleash malicious code instead of a holiday greeting. The attachment, sometimes labeled "e-card.vbs", resembles an e-greeting but is really an attacker's ploy to infect users' systems.
Please read and heed the following reminders to help keep your email and all UCSC systems safe.
Holiday Email Use Reminders
---------------------------
Be wary about opening or activating a file or Internet link sent to you attached to email. These types of programs are especially prevalent during the holiday season when the number of greetings and animations sent via email increases.
Files and Internet links attached to email may contain or lead to programs that can damage your system, files and the network.
You should be suspicious if:
* The attached file or Internet link is not business related, and/or
* You don't recognize the sender, and/or
* You can't determine why the file or link was sent to you, and/or
* The file name of the attachment ends with EXE, HLP, LNK, MDB, MDE, URL or VBE.
What You Should Do:
* Delete messages that meet the criteria above without opening or activating any attached files and links.
* Do not send, forward or open electronic greeting cards, animations, games, joke programs, chain letters, screen savers, songs, videos or images. In addition, they can needlessly consume system resources.
* Verify that virus definition files are up-to-date and that your anti-virus software is configured properly. Virus definitions should be updated weekly and as needed.
* Ensure that all current system patches are applied for both the operating system and all applications installed.
* Do not install unapproved software. Even if it is "free", you may get more than you realized.
Regards,
Steve
Maintained by:pioweb@ucsc.edu