As you probably know all too well, the most common uses of e-mail deception
are to send SPAM (unwanted e-mail solicitations) and to propagate viruses/worms
(e-mail that contains destructive virus attachments). ALL virus e-mail comes
from either a fictitious e-mail address or, more commonly, from a real address
that has been hijacked from an unsuspecting e-mail user. It has become very
common to receive e-mail from an unknown correspondent who complains about e-mail
you supposedly sent, even though you do not recognize the e-mail or the destination
address. In a typical spoof or spam scenario, a user anywhere in the world,
perhaps with your e-mail address somewhere in their computer, is hit by a virus.
The virus then attempts to propagate itself using various e-mail address aliases
it finds on the infected host. The next victim's systems may or may not reject
the e-mail. Regardless, you may then receive e-mail complaining, explaining,
accusing—or all three—because you were supposedly the sender. Worse,
you may receive a message from that victim to you, containing the virus or worm!
What do you do?
If you see a suspicious message—or 10, or 20—just delete the e-mail(s).
That's all you have to do! DO NOT, under any circumstances, open the
attachments. There is no need to inform ITS about such e-mail, as it occurs
hundreds of times each day on BC computers.
BC e-mail protection
As you know, at BC we use an excellent e-mail anti-virus system called Antigen.
Antigen has not failed us in any significant way for several years, through
the worst possible e-mail virus plagues. If the program finds a virus attached
to mail coming either from or to you, it removes it and sends you e-mail stating
that the message was removed. If you receive such an e-mail, just make sure
that your PC, either on campus or at home, has up-to-date virus protection and
is being scanned for viruses. Our on-campus SOPHOS protection is also very robust,
so be sure to have your computer running the program. If you’re not sure
if your computer is running SOPHOS, contact the ITS HelpDesk: 718 951 HELP.
Can BC do more to combat e-mail spoofers, spammers and viruses?
ITS already filters out thousands of SPAM e-mails every day using some basic
rules. For example, we do not accept mail from addresses that cannot be traced
back to legitimate, registered e-mail domains. We aso filter mail from known
SPAM hosts on published hit lists. Although ITS already does a great deal to
filter SPAM, we want to do more. At $100,000+ annually, however, typical anti-SPAM
programs have been cost prohibitive. Many programs have now dropped dramatically
in price and ITS is actively investigating the procurement of one with the potential
to reduce SPAM to as little as 1% of its current level, with 99% accuracy.
