Viruses
FLCC's Exchange e-mail server has advanced virus detection and removal software that detects and removes hundreds of viruses from e-mail messages that are addressed to college employees on a daily basis. However, in rare circumstances it is possible for a virus to slip by undetected. There are several things you can do to minimize your exposure to viruses:
Don't open e-mail from someone you do not know - just delete it!
Don't open attachments unless you are expecting to receive one AND you know what the attachment contains AND you know the sender.
If you see multiple copies of the same message in your e-mail box delivered in the span of a few minutes, it is likely that someone else on campus has a virus. Do not open the messages, just delete them - and report the occurrence to x7221 or x7435.
If you receive warnings about e-mail viruses circulating from your family and friends, DO NOT FORWARD THEM! - The vast majority of them are hoaxes! Check the following websites to see if the warning might be legit, - and if it appears to be true, report it to x7221 or x7435.
http://urbanlegends.miningco.com/library/blhoax.htm?pid=2733&cob=home
http://kumite.com/myths/home.htm
Hoaxes, Chain Letters, Scams, Myths, etc. (excerpts from CIAC pages)
Interspersed among the junk
mail and spam that fills our Internet e-mail boxes are dire warnings about
devastating new viruses, Trojans that eat the heart out of your system, and
malicious software that can steal the computer right off your desk. Added to
that are messages about free money, children in trouble, and other items
designed to grab you and get you to forward the message to everyone you know.
Most all of these messages are hoaxes or chain letters. While
hoaxes do not automatically infect systems like a virus or Trojan, they
are still time consuming and costly to remove from all the systems where they
exist. The links at the bottom of the page describe some of the warnings,
offers, and pleas for help that are filling our mailboxes, clogging our mailservers, and that generally do not have any basis in
fact.
It is a requirement of the
FLCC Network Usage policy to not spread chain letters by sending copies to
others using FLCC computing resources. If you receive any hoaxes, chain
letters, scams, or myths, please don't pass them on to others, - just delete
them!
You can check the validity
of suspected hoaxes and scams, and find descriptions of chain letters and myths
at the following websites:
http://hoaxbusters.ciac.org/HBHoaxIndex.html
http://kumite.com/myths/home.htm
Please read the disclaimer.