AntiVirus and Email Security Services
The University has a site license for Symantec Antivirus Corporate Edition which allows this software to be installed on any University owned computer. This software provides high level virus protection for individual computers.
Central ICT runs filtering software on the central email server which identifies and quarantines incoming email messages which have a high probability of being:
Spam email messages are unsolicited emails, sent in bulk which are usually used to advertise a product or service.
ICT runs filtering software on the central email server which identifies and filters incoming email messages which have a high probability of being spam. Please see the Pure Message Spam Quarantine system page for more information.
One common way for viruses to spread to new computers is through email messages with attached files which contain viruses. To avoid being the victim of viruses of this kind, it is a good idea to avoid opening or saving attached files from unsolicited emails.
ICT runs AntiVirus software on the University's email server which identifies and quarantines potentially offending incoming messages according to the University Antivirus Policy. Please see the Pure Message Virus Quarantine system page for more information on how the virus quarantine system works and how to release attachments which have been quarantined incorrectly.
Recent Phishing Email Example from 25/09/2008
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From: The University of Sydney [mailto:********@singnet.com.sg] Sent: Thursday, 25 September 2008 9:57 AM To: info@mail.usyd.edu.au Subject: TERMINATION OF YOUR USYD.EDU.AU WEBMAIL ACCOUNT Dear Staff/Student TERMINATION OF YOUR USYD.EDU.AU WEBMAIL ACCOUNT We are currently carrying out an upgrade on our system due to the fact that it has come to our notice that one or more of our subscribers are introducing a very strong virus into our system and it is affecting our network.We are trying to find out the specific person. For this reason all subscribers are to provide their USER NAME AND PASSWORD for us to verify and have them cleared against this virus. Failure to comply will lead to the termination of your Account in the next 48 hours. Information to send; EMAIL ADDRESS: USERNAME: PASSWORD: Hoping to serve you better. Sincerely, The USYD.EDU.AU mail Support ******************************************************************************************** This is an Administrative Message from The University of Sydney Mail server. It is not spam. From time to time,The University of Sydney mail server will send you such messages in order to communicate important information about your subscription. ******************************************************************************************** |
Phishing emails are messages which masquerade as official correspondence in order to deceive the recipients into giving away their login names and passwords to secure services such as:
- Email accounts
- Bank Accounts
- Ebay Accounts
- Accounts for other online services
These emails often warn the recipient that they must reply with their login name and password or their account will be shut down.
ICT will never send email requests for users to reply with their UniKey passwords. Any requests of this kind should be deleted without sending any response.