(pronounced 'fishing') emails are emails that appear to be from a third party, usually a banking entity, requesting you to verify your account information. On the surface they appear to be legitimate messages using the entities own logos, pictures and fonts. In actuality, they are attempting to capture your account information from the fraudulent website provided in the message. Never click on hyperlinks within emails to banking entities. Type the website's address directly in the address bar, or use a bookmark that you personally have created. Each financial entity should have specific information regarding how they communicate with you. Visit their website directly and familiarize yourself with their steps on how to protect your account information.
OIT frequently receives calls for three basic types of virus related messages. Virus Messages:
Currently, all messages with .ZIP attachments are being quarantined by the anti-spam server and are manually released daily. If you are expecting a message that has a .ZIP attachment and it's time sensitive, contact Kevin Johnson who will check the quarantine.
Also, any emails from signed by The JSCC Support Team are NOT FROM OIT. If the message has the eTrust Antivirus ScanReport.TxT attachment, please delete the message. Otherwise, DO NOT OPEN THE ATTACHMENT -- CONTACT OIT IMMEDIATELY.
Another type of message will indicate that you have sent an infected message to someone that you may or may not know. These message types indicate a false positive in that the email server thinks that you sent the infected email, when you have not. Some servers are configured to send an email to the 'sender' of an infected message. So, as most viruses spread through email by randomly selecting the recipient AND the sender email address from the infected computer's hard drive, your address may be one that's selected. The user of the infected hard drive only has to visit a website or keep an email or document on their computer that contains your email address for it to be used by a virus. These false positives can safely be deleted. OIT stopped sending notifications to 'senders' of infected messages several years ago.
It is imperative that you do not attempt to install any patch that is emailed directly to you. The vast majority of updates or patches that OIT installs are done so automatically. You may be required to reboot after an update is applied. Updates are scheduled to be downloaded to computers nightly, or immediately after your computer is started the next morning. OIT will send an email in advance - usually with at least a 24 hour notice but the time frame for notification will be mitigated by the urgency of the update or patch.
OIT has deployed SpySweeper Enterprise which scans your computer nightly for spyware and prevents spyware from being installed on your computer.