Spam, Scams, and Your E-mailNew viruses, worms, and hoaxes appear on a regular basis. Most threats are non-effective to our computers and e-mail system since implementing anti-virus, software update policies, and rules on the e-mail system to limit file types that may threaten our systems. However, we still must be vigilant in our daily practices to avoid problems that are caused by new threats or an unsecured system we do not manage. We continue to receive e-mails relating to virus warnings, hoaxes, spam, and scams. This message is reminding of good practice guidelines to follow when using e-mail or downloading files at home or at work:
1. Avoid opening e-mail attachments that are unexpected or from unknown people. Even if you know the person the e-mail is from, the senders name may have been spoofed and they may not have sent the e-mail and the attachment may be a virus. (virus, worm, Trojan, spoofing)
2. Avoid performing steps listed in an e-mail to remove a virus. Call the Help Desk (5167) or send the e-mail as an attachment to
helptech@graceland.edu for questions. Do not forward the e-mail to friends, family, or coworkers. (hoaxes)
3. Avoid visiting ‘questionable’ websites or downloading/installing programs on your computer from ‘questionable’ vendors. Some websites or software creators may (intentionally or unintentionally) attach or automatically download viruses, worms, Trojans, Adware and Spyware to your machine. (Use your best judgment.)
4. Avoid opening or installing patches, fixes, or updates you receive by e-mail from ‘what looks like’ is sent from a well know technology vendor. Vendors will not send updates by e-mail. (hoax, spam, spoofing)
5. Avoid installing or using file sharing programs on Graceland University computers like Kazaa, Morpheus, and Limewire.
6. Avoid e-mails, website, and pop-ups asking for personal information or asking you to install updates or ‘improve computer performance’. If you get a pop-up to install or download something unexpected, call the Help Desk at 5167. Typically, these pop-ups will come up while browsing the web. (hoax, scam, Spyware, Adware)
If you receive an e-mail with an attachment “Quarantined Attachment.txt”, delete the message unless it is an expected message from the sender. If you expect the message and the message is marked as “Quarantined” you have three actions:
Open the file attached to the e-mail named “Quarantined Attachment.txt” and identify the file initially sent. If the file attachment ends with a file extension in this list (blocked file extensions), you will need to contact the sender and have them change the file extension so the e-mail system will not block the file type.
If the file sent does not have a ‘blocked’ file extension you should notify the sender the message and their machine is possibly infected.
If you have done the above steps and the sender is still unable to successfully send a message to you, contact the Help Desk for assistance.
For messages ‘looking’ like they came from a Graceland employee or student with a ‘questionable’ subject or message, delete the message. (Reason: Most messages generated from unsecured machine do not show the ‘actual’ sender in the ‘From’ line. These messages are most likely ‘spoofed’ from off-campus. If a computer on Graceland University’s campus is sending out ‘spam’ or ‘spoof’ messages, our network specialists will detect the computer relatively quickly and disconnect the computer from the network.)
When receiving an e-mail fitting this description or marked as “Possible Spam”, ask yourself these three questions:
Do I know the user? Yes, No
Am I expecting this message? Yes, No
Is the subject or message body relevant to my job function? Yes, No
If you answered ‘No’ to all three questions, delete the message. In most cases, you could delete the message if you answer no to questions 2 and 3. If you would like to setup Outlook to automatically delete or move messages to a specific folder, use this link and follow the instructions
http://sta.graceland.edu/managespam.htm.
*For definitions on words in parentheses, please go to
http://support.graceland.edu/help/datasecurity/threat%20definitions.htm
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Distribution listsA distribution list is a collection of contacts. It provides an easy way to send messages to a group of people. For example, if you frequently send messages to the marketing team, you can create a distribution list called Marketing Team that contains the names of all members of the marketing team. A message sent to this distribution list goes to all recipients listed in the distribution list. Recipients see their own names and the names of all other recipients on the
To line of the message instead of seeing the name of the distribution list. You can use distribution lists in messages, task requests, meeting requests, and other distribution lists.
You can easily add and delete names in a distribution list, send it to others, and print it.
Distribution lists are stored by default in your
Contacts folder, so you can sort and assign categories to them. If you use Microsoft Exchange Server, your Global Address List can contain global distribution lists, which are available to everyone who uses that network. The personal distribution lists that you create in your
Contacts folder are available only to you, but you can share them by copying and sending them to others.
To create a list just follow these simple instructions below.
1. On the
File menu, point to
New, and then click
Distribution List.
2. In the
Name box, type a name.
3. Click
Select Members.
4. In the
Show names from the list, click the address book that contains the e-mail addresses you want in your distribution list.
5. In the
Type name or select from list box, type a name you want to include. In the list below, select the name, and then click
Members. Do this for each person you want to add to the distribution list, and then click
OK.
If you want to add a longer description of the distribution list, click the
Notes tab, and then type the text.
The distribution list is saved in your
Contacts folder by the name you give it.
To create a distribution list by copying names from an email message use the following instructions.
1. In the e-mail message you want to copy the names from, select the names in the
To or
Cc box.
2. On the
Edit menu, click
Copy.
3. On the
File menu, point to
New, and then click
Distribution List.
4. In the
Name box, type a name for the distribution list.
5. Click
Select Members.
6. In the
Add to distribution list list, right-click, and then click
Paste on the shortcut menu.
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