Whoever said, “Sharing is nice,” Wasn’t Referring to Your ECU Passphrase

You’ve received them, those “almost-looks-real-but-not-quite” e-mails claiming to be from your bank, the IRS or the ECU Computer IT department.  The latest one claims to be from the “Microsoft Customer Support” department.

First, the message usually describes a digital disaster or time-sensitive emergency and then requests you update account information IMMEDIATELY.  The message usually continues with looming consequences unless you reply with your passphrase, account username or Social Security Number:  money will be lost, accounts will close or some other dire situation will result.

DON’T FALL FOR THIS SCAM!!

Once you reply to this type of message, the perpetrators use your personal information to conduct fraud or to send SPAM from your e-mail account.

This is called “phishing.”  It is illegal, and it is a growing problem at ECU.

While ITCS does a good job of catching most of these malicious messages, some do get through, and we count on our users to be aware of the following tips to avoid being a victim:

♦ Legitimate businesses—including ECU, banks, the IRS—will NEVER request personal information through an e-mail message.

♦ If an e-mail asks for personal information, DELETE it.

♦ If you’re unsure about an e-mail, call the business using the phone number on the back of the bill, statement or credit card.  Do not call a phone number listed in the e-mail.

♦ E-mail alerts will originate from ITCS Notifications.

♦ If you suspect you have provided account information to a fraudulent e-mail, CHANGE your password immediately at https://pirateid.ecu.edu/.

♦ Never click the links in an e-mail. Use antivirus and antispyware software as well as a firewall and update these programs regularly.  As an ECU employee or student, you may download Symantec SAV software for your home computer for free.

♦ Keep your operating system and other software up to date with the latest security patches and updates.

If you have questions or believe you have responded to a phishing e-mail, contact the ECU IT Help Desk at 252.328.9866.

To find out more information about phishing, visit OnGuardOnline at http://www.onguardonline.gov/topics/phishing.aspx

E-mail Housekeeping Now through August

You may have recently noticed the subject line of some inbox messages includes the notation,  ******Mail.ecu.edu******.

ITCS has activated this feature so you’ll know which e-mails have been delivered using the old pirateid@mail.ecu.edu address.  This can include newsletters or listserv digests to which you subscribed before 2006.

Over the 2009 summer, ITCS will phase out delivery of e-mail using this old address, and after August 15, 2009, this mail will be “returned to sender.”

Since approximately 92% of the incoming e-mail addressed to pirateid@mail.ecu.edu is quarantined by MailMarshal as spam, eliminating this address helps us maintain a more efficient spam filtering system and ensures continued, timely delivery of legitimate e-mail.

If you wish to continue receiving e-mail currently addressed to the old pirateid@mail.ecu.edu, be sure to contact the sender to change the address before August 15, 2009.

SharePoint Now Includes Added Support

The SharePoint Team has added some helpful community support to the ECU SharePoint portal. When you visit https://collab.ecu.edu, you’ll now see the following links:

Discussion Forum
Post problems or ask for solutions. This forum is monitored by the SharePoint administrators and will provide moderation as well as support.

Wiki
This ever-evolving wiki contains heaps of useful information from Terms of Service to Getting Started. As new information comes up, it will find its way onto the wiki.

Blog
This blog will push out important information to all SharePoint users whether it be down time announcements or links to helpful information. Subscribe to the RSS feed and never miss an update!