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Due to the increase in spam/phishing e-mails coming into our Inbox lately, this week's e-mail will cover this topic.  (The latest, widespread spam e‑mail coming through says it's seeking a response to a Better Business Bureau complaint.)

 

(smile)   I know I tend to give lengthy explanations, so before I do, I'll give my short answer on this topic first: 

When in doubt of an e‑mail, never click on the link inside the e-mail.  If you know the sender, verify the validity of an e-mail by calling him/her.  You can also check the Cornell phishbowl, ask your local IT contact, or just delete the message.   Forward any suspect e-mails to security-services@cornell.edu (and you can cc me on the e-mail as well).

 

 

Now, I'll go through more background information, do's and don'ts, and things you can do.

Cornell E-mail Security System

As part of the e‑mail system at Cornell University, they utilize an e‑mail security system that checks all arriving e‑mails for viruses, suspect attachments and spam.  Any e‑mail containing a known virus is automatically deleted to ensure no system or user is at risk of infection.  (This does not mean a virus can't slip through so always be aware of unexpected attachments.)  

Spam e‑mail is tested against certain spam signatures that are updated regularly.

If an email is deemed to be spam or "possibly spam" the subject line of the email will be tagged with [PMX] and then forwarded to the original recipient.  Notice the pound (#) signs after the PMX in the subject line, the more pound signs the higher the spam rating.  The higher the spam rating the more likely it is spam.

Filter Tagged PMX Messages

You can filter these e-mail messages marked with PMX into your Junk folder.  So instead of having them clutter up your Inbox, you can check your Junk folder once in a while to verify that there are no legitimate e-mails, and then permanently delete them.

How-to video: http://screencast.com/t/qKqmW7phwKr

Step by Step Instructions for creating a filter can be found at:
http://www.tamug.edu/computing/Nomenu/Outlook%20Rules%20and%20Alerts.html

 

Good Guidelines To Follow:

 

  • Do NOT open attachments you are not expecting (even if you know the sender).
  • Do NOT click on links provided in e‑mails you are not expecting or have not requested, e.g. e‑mails from companies advertising services or products.
    • Checking a Link:  In any e-mail, it's always a good idea to hover your mouse over the link to see if the link displayed is the actual website that it's going to take you to.  It's very easy to disguise a link.  For example, I can include this link to http://www.google.com but in reality it's taking you to the Cornell phishbowl.   
      • Go ahead and hover your mouse over this link now.
        • In your e-mail message, a little box shows you the true web address you will go to if you click on it.
        • In your web browser, if you look in the lower left corner, you can see the true web address.
    • No one (Cornell, the helpdesk, me...) should ever ask for your NetID password.  It is against Cornell policy. 

Cornell Help and Resources:

  • Cornell Phishbowl
    http://www.it.cornell.edu/security/safety/phishbowl.cfm Lists some examples of phishing e‑mails seen on campus. Do NOT assume a suspect email is safe, just because it is not listed here. There are many variants of each, and new ones are being sent out each day.
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