Open Letter (aparently)
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Open letter (aparently): It is Monday morning ... and I'm really pissed off. Why? Well, our incoming email has been disrupted this weekend - this is the second time this year, and we're only up to April. No it's not a server failure at our ISP, and no it's not a virus (not directly anyway) ...we've effectively had a denial of service on our incoming business email, because of all the auto-response emails kindly advising us that a message we never sent included a virus. If you are a Sys-Admin, or Keeper-of-the-Mail-Server, I would ask you to read this very carefully - there's some important stuff further down that could affect you ...and if you happen to be feeling sharp pains about your person, this is because I'm busy throwing darts at your effigy. Look - I'm genuinely pleased that you've managed to set up your mail servers so they automatically trap a live virus - excellent, well done! In fact my pleasure is not unlike that of a proud father whose offspring has just managed his/her first poo into the potty instead of all over the floor. But my pleasure has waned as you continue to tell me about it - repeatedly. So, let's establish a couple of facts... 1. Here at "Visible Form" we do NOT send out infected emails - ever. We have NEVER done so, and will do our utmost in the future to ensure that this remains the case. Like you, we run up-to-date virus checkers on incoming and outgoing, we have a hardware firewall, and our mail server ISP does NOT have an open relay - in fact we can only send email via this ISP if we connect directly to their system. The ISP we use for our day-to-day connection will only allow us to use their mail servers and 'spoof' our own FROM address if we've already asked for (and got) permission, which includes providing evidence that we own the domains in question. 2. Most viruses spoof the FROM email address. Do I really need to explain to you that this means the virus-containing email DID NOT come from the FROM address? You do know this, don't you? You do KNOW this? DO YOU KNOW THIS?? These are facts - read them slowly and repeatedly until they sink in. Write this in big letters and put it up on the wall: "most VIRUS emails SPOOF the FROM address". I am pleased you've pooed in your potty - sorry, trapped a live virus - but it was not sent from here, and I do not need to know about it. I especially do not need to know about it several hundred, even thousand, times. You see, what has happened here is that the virus is no longer the problem
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Open letter (aparently): It is Monday morning ... and I'm really pissed off. Why? Well, our incoming email has been disrupted this weekend - this is the second time this year, and we're only up to April. No it's not a server failure at our ISP, and no it's not a virus (not directly anyway) ...we've effectively had a denial of service on our incoming business email, because of all the auto-response emails kindly advising us that a message we never sent included a virus. If you are a Sys-Admin, or Keeper-of-the-Mail-Server, I would ask you to read this very carefully - there's some important stuff further down that could affect you ...and if you happen to be feeling sharp pains about your person, this is because I'm busy throwing darts at your effigy. Look - I'm genuinely pleased that you've managed to set up your mail servers so they automatically trap a live virus - excellent, well done! In fact my pleasure is not unlike that of a proud father whose offspring has just managed his/her first poo into the potty instead of all over the floor. But my pleasure has waned as you continue to tell me about it - repeatedly. So, let's establish a couple of facts... 1. Here at "Visible Form" we do NOT send out infected emails - ever. We have NEVER done so, and will do our utmost in the future to ensure that this remains the case. Like you, we run up-to-date virus checkers on incoming and outgoing, we have a hardware firewall, and our mail server ISP does NOT have an open relay - in fact we can only send email via this ISP if we connect directly to their system. The ISP we use for our day-to-day connection will only allow us to use their mail servers and 'spoof' our own FROM address if we've already asked for (and got) permission, which includes providing evidence that we own the domains in question. 2. Most viruses spoof the FROM email address. Do I really need to explain to you that this means the virus-containing email DID NOT come from the FROM address? You do know this, don't you? You do KNOW this? DO YOU KNOW THIS?? These are facts - read them slowly and repeatedly until they sink in. Write this in big letters and put it up on the wall: "most VIRUS emails SPOOF the FROM address". I am pleased you've pooed in your potty - sorry, trapped a live virus - but it was not sent from here, and I do not need to know about it. I especially do not need to know about it several hundred, even thousand, times. You see, what has happened here is that the virus is no longer the problem
This is definately food for thought. It wouldn't be surprising if this constitues as spam! ;P Ant.
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Open letter (aparently): It is Monday morning ... and I'm really pissed off. Why? Well, our incoming email has been disrupted this weekend - this is the second time this year, and we're only up to April. No it's not a server failure at our ISP, and no it's not a virus (not directly anyway) ...we've effectively had a denial of service on our incoming business email, because of all the auto-response emails kindly advising us that a message we never sent included a virus. If you are a Sys-Admin, or Keeper-of-the-Mail-Server, I would ask you to read this very carefully - there's some important stuff further down that could affect you ...and if you happen to be feeling sharp pains about your person, this is because I'm busy throwing darts at your effigy. Look - I'm genuinely pleased that you've managed to set up your mail servers so they automatically trap a live virus - excellent, well done! In fact my pleasure is not unlike that of a proud father whose offspring has just managed his/her first poo into the potty instead of all over the floor. But my pleasure has waned as you continue to tell me about it - repeatedly. So, let's establish a couple of facts... 1. Here at "Visible Form" we do NOT send out infected emails - ever. We have NEVER done so, and will do our utmost in the future to ensure that this remains the case. Like you, we run up-to-date virus checkers on incoming and outgoing, we have a hardware firewall, and our mail server ISP does NOT have an open relay - in fact we can only send email via this ISP if we connect directly to their system. The ISP we use for our day-to-day connection will only allow us to use their mail servers and 'spoof' our own FROM address if we've already asked for (and got) permission, which includes providing evidence that we own the domains in question. 2. Most viruses spoof the FROM email address. Do I really need to explain to you that this means the virus-containing email DID NOT come from the FROM address? You do know this, don't you? You do KNOW this? DO YOU KNOW THIS?? These are facts - read them slowly and repeatedly until they sink in. Write this in big letters and put it up on the wall: "most VIRUS emails SPOOF the FROM address". I am pleased you've pooed in your potty - sorry, trapped a live virus - but it was not sent from here, and I do not need to know about it. I especially do not need to know about it several hundred, even thousand, times. You see, what has happened here is that the virus is no longer the problem
My 5. Our mail server is overloaded with those mails. ----------------------- New and improved: kwakkelflap.com My second CP article: MAP files[^] "Hey, Eddie, can I pour you a beer?" "A little early, isn't it, Richy?" "For a beer?" "No, for stupid questions."
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Open letter (aparently): It is Monday morning ... and I'm really pissed off. Why? Well, our incoming email has been disrupted this weekend - this is the second time this year, and we're only up to April. No it's not a server failure at our ISP, and no it's not a virus (not directly anyway) ...we've effectively had a denial of service on our incoming business email, because of all the auto-response emails kindly advising us that a message we never sent included a virus. If you are a Sys-Admin, or Keeper-of-the-Mail-Server, I would ask you to read this very carefully - there's some important stuff further down that could affect you ...and if you happen to be feeling sharp pains about your person, this is because I'm busy throwing darts at your effigy. Look - I'm genuinely pleased that you've managed to set up your mail servers so they automatically trap a live virus - excellent, well done! In fact my pleasure is not unlike that of a proud father whose offspring has just managed his/her first poo into the potty instead of all over the floor. But my pleasure has waned as you continue to tell me about it - repeatedly. So, let's establish a couple of facts... 1. Here at "Visible Form" we do NOT send out infected emails - ever. We have NEVER done so, and will do our utmost in the future to ensure that this remains the case. Like you, we run up-to-date virus checkers on incoming and outgoing, we have a hardware firewall, and our mail server ISP does NOT have an open relay - in fact we can only send email via this ISP if we connect directly to their system. The ISP we use for our day-to-day connection will only allow us to use their mail servers and 'spoof' our own FROM address if we've already asked for (and got) permission, which includes providing evidence that we own the domains in question. 2. Most viruses spoof the FROM email address. Do I really need to explain to you that this means the virus-containing email DID NOT come from the FROM address? You do know this, don't you? You do KNOW this? DO YOU KNOW THIS?? These are facts - read them slowly and repeatedly until they sink in. Write this in big letters and put it up on the wall: "most VIRUS emails SPOOF the FROM address". I am pleased you've pooed in your potty - sorry, trapped a live virus - but it was not sent from here, and I do not need to know about it. I especially do not need to know about it several hundred, even thousand, times. You see, what has happened here is that the virus is no longer the problem
I get a few of those emails now and then, though thankfully not often enough to qualify for DoS status. Curiously, a couple of them have had a virus attached.:sigh: Of greater concern is a trend I've seen lately; emails disguised as NDRs that contain a message that instructs the recipient to open the attachment for an explanation of why the mail was not delivered. They look genuine, but the attachment is an executable file. Many users I know will unquestioningly open such mails and check the attachment without looking at who the intended recipient is - invariably someone I don't know. Some people think of it as a six-pack; I consider it more of a support group.
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Open letter (aparently): It is Monday morning ... and I'm really pissed off. Why? Well, our incoming email has been disrupted this weekend - this is the second time this year, and we're only up to April. No it's not a server failure at our ISP, and no it's not a virus (not directly anyway) ...we've effectively had a denial of service on our incoming business email, because of all the auto-response emails kindly advising us that a message we never sent included a virus. If you are a Sys-Admin, or Keeper-of-the-Mail-Server, I would ask you to read this very carefully - there's some important stuff further down that could affect you ...and if you happen to be feeling sharp pains about your person, this is because I'm busy throwing darts at your effigy. Look - I'm genuinely pleased that you've managed to set up your mail servers so they automatically trap a live virus - excellent, well done! In fact my pleasure is not unlike that of a proud father whose offspring has just managed his/her first poo into the potty instead of all over the floor. But my pleasure has waned as you continue to tell me about it - repeatedly. So, let's establish a couple of facts... 1. Here at "Visible Form" we do NOT send out infected emails - ever. We have NEVER done so, and will do our utmost in the future to ensure that this remains the case. Like you, we run up-to-date virus checkers on incoming and outgoing, we have a hardware firewall, and our mail server ISP does NOT have an open relay - in fact we can only send email via this ISP if we connect directly to their system. The ISP we use for our day-to-day connection will only allow us to use their mail servers and 'spoof' our own FROM address if we've already asked for (and got) permission, which includes providing evidence that we own the domains in question. 2. Most viruses spoof the FROM email address. Do I really need to explain to you that this means the virus-containing email DID NOT come from the FROM address? You do know this, don't you? You do KNOW this? DO YOU KNOW THIS?? These are facts - read them slowly and repeatedly until they sink in. Write this in big letters and put it up on the wall: "most VIRUS emails SPOOF the FROM address". I am pleased you've pooed in your potty - sorry, trapped a live virus - but it was not sent from here, and I do not need to know about it. I especially do not need to know about it several hundred, even thousand, times. You see, what has happened here is that the virus is no longer the problem
Had that same problem about a month ago, most coming from hosts using a particular anti-virus product (which identified itself in the emails). I contacted the vendor and they were surprisingly responsive. They informed me that they were attempting to contact their clients to warn them about using the auto-response feature. Fortunately, the emails did stop after a few days. It was nice to see a vendor acting responsibly.
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Open letter (aparently): It is Monday morning ... and I'm really pissed off. Why? Well, our incoming email has been disrupted this weekend - this is the second time this year, and we're only up to April. No it's not a server failure at our ISP, and no it's not a virus (not directly anyway) ...we've effectively had a denial of service on our incoming business email, because of all the auto-response emails kindly advising us that a message we never sent included a virus. If you are a Sys-Admin, or Keeper-of-the-Mail-Server, I would ask you to read this very carefully - there's some important stuff further down that could affect you ...and if you happen to be feeling sharp pains about your person, this is because I'm busy throwing darts at your effigy. Look - I'm genuinely pleased that you've managed to set up your mail servers so they automatically trap a live virus - excellent, well done! In fact my pleasure is not unlike that of a proud father whose offspring has just managed his/her first poo into the potty instead of all over the floor. But my pleasure has waned as you continue to tell me about it - repeatedly. So, let's establish a couple of facts... 1. Here at "Visible Form" we do NOT send out infected emails - ever. We have NEVER done so, and will do our utmost in the future to ensure that this remains the case. Like you, we run up-to-date virus checkers on incoming and outgoing, we have a hardware firewall, and our mail server ISP does NOT have an open relay - in fact we can only send email via this ISP if we connect directly to their system. The ISP we use for our day-to-day connection will only allow us to use their mail servers and 'spoof' our own FROM address if we've already asked for (and got) permission, which includes providing evidence that we own the domains in question. 2. Most viruses spoof the FROM email address. Do I really need to explain to you that this means the virus-containing email DID NOT come from the FROM address? You do know this, don't you? You do KNOW this? DO YOU KNOW THIS?? These are facts - read them slowly and repeatedly until they sink in. Write this in big letters and put it up on the wall: "most VIRUS emails SPOOF the FROM address". I am pleased you've pooed in your potty - sorry, trapped a live virus - but it was not sent from here, and I do not need to know about it. I especially do not need to know about it several hundred, even thousand, times. You see, what has happened here is that the virus is no longer the problem
Why anyone would ever want to use such a feature is beyond me. In fact, calling it a feature is insane. It has no practical purpose at all. Before I even open an email that has an attachment, I always inspect the Internet headers. That is usually enough for me to determine that I'm deleting some piece of crap. While Outlook Express may have lots of holes and security issues, one feature that I love is to view the message source in text mode, when viewing the Internet headers. This functionality has allowed me to 'see' all those MIME attachments that are executables long before there is a chance of them being executed. I know I'll probably get 'oned to death' for saying this, but yes Outlook Express has some features which can help one avoid becoming infected with a virus. :) Chris Meech We're more like a hobbiest in a Home Depot drooling at all the shiny power tools, rather than a craftsman that makes the chair to an exacting level of comfort by measuring the customer's butt. Marc Clifton VB is like a toolbox, in the hands of a craftsman, you can end up with some amazing stuff, but without the skills to use it right you end up with Homer Simpson's attempt at building a barbeque or his attempt at a Spice rack. Michael P. Butler
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Why anyone would ever want to use such a feature is beyond me. In fact, calling it a feature is insane. It has no practical purpose at all. Before I even open an email that has an attachment, I always inspect the Internet headers. That is usually enough for me to determine that I'm deleting some piece of crap. While Outlook Express may have lots of holes and security issues, one feature that I love is to view the message source in text mode, when viewing the Internet headers. This functionality has allowed me to 'see' all those MIME attachments that are executables long before there is a chance of them being executed. I know I'll probably get 'oned to death' for saying this, but yes Outlook Express has some features which can help one avoid becoming infected with a virus. :) Chris Meech We're more like a hobbiest in a Home Depot drooling at all the shiny power tools, rather than a craftsman that makes the chair to an exacting level of comfort by measuring the customer's butt. Marc Clifton VB is like a toolbox, in the hands of a craftsman, you can end up with some amazing stuff, but without the skills to use it right you end up with Homer Simpson's attempt at building a barbeque or his attempt at a Spice rack. Michael P. Butler
I don't even look in the headers. Most of the time, looking at the size is enough. If it's 30-40K then it's too big to be a simple mail, but too small for an attachment that makes sense. So I delete it right away. ----------------------- New and improved: kwakkelflap.com My second CP article: MAP files[^] "Hey, Eddie, can I pour you a beer?" "A little early, isn't it, Richy?" "For a beer?" "No, for stupid questions."
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Open letter (aparently): It is Monday morning ... and I'm really pissed off. Why? Well, our incoming email has been disrupted this weekend - this is the second time this year, and we're only up to April. No it's not a server failure at our ISP, and no it's not a virus (not directly anyway) ...we've effectively had a denial of service on our incoming business email, because of all the auto-response emails kindly advising us that a message we never sent included a virus. If you are a Sys-Admin, or Keeper-of-the-Mail-Server, I would ask you to read this very carefully - there's some important stuff further down that could affect you ...and if you happen to be feeling sharp pains about your person, this is because I'm busy throwing darts at your effigy. Look - I'm genuinely pleased that you've managed to set up your mail servers so they automatically trap a live virus - excellent, well done! In fact my pleasure is not unlike that of a proud father whose offspring has just managed his/her first poo into the potty instead of all over the floor. But my pleasure has waned as you continue to tell me about it - repeatedly. So, let's establish a couple of facts... 1. Here at "Visible Form" we do NOT send out infected emails - ever. We have NEVER done so, and will do our utmost in the future to ensure that this remains the case. Like you, we run up-to-date virus checkers on incoming and outgoing, we have a hardware firewall, and our mail server ISP does NOT have an open relay - in fact we can only send email via this ISP if we connect directly to their system. The ISP we use for our day-to-day connection will only allow us to use their mail servers and 'spoof' our own FROM address if we've already asked for (and got) permission, which includes providing evidence that we own the domains in question. 2. Most viruses spoof the FROM email address. Do I really need to explain to you that this means the virus-containing email DID NOT come from the FROM address? You do know this, don't you? You do KNOW this? DO YOU KNOW THIS?? These are facts - read them slowly and repeatedly until they sink in. Write this in big letters and put it up on the wall: "most VIRUS emails SPOOF the FROM address". I am pleased you've pooed in your potty - sorry, trapped a live virus - but it was not sent from here, and I do not need to know about it. I especially do not need to know about it several hundred, even thousand, times. You see, what has happened here is that the virus is no longer the problem
Who's doing it?
"Je pense, donc je mange." - Rene Descartes 1689 - Just before his mother put his tea on the table. Shameless Plug - Distributed Database Transactions in .NET using COM+
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I get a few of those emails now and then, though thankfully not often enough to qualify for DoS status. Curiously, a couple of them have had a virus attached.:sigh: Of greater concern is a trend I've seen lately; emails disguised as NDRs that contain a message that instructs the recipient to open the attachment for an explanation of why the mail was not delivered. They look genuine, but the attachment is an executable file. Many users I know will unquestioningly open such mails and check the attachment without looking at who the intended recipient is - invariably someone I don't know. Some people think of it as a six-pack; I consider it more of a support group.
Roger Wright wrote: Curiously, a couple of them have had a virus attached. Ooh yes, those are the best. The anti-virus software that not only blocks the virus executing on their systems but also kindly returns it to you in full. I just delete such messages now though I have noticed more and more hitting me in the last few weeks. Come to think of it, these auto-response e-mails are starting to overtake the number of spam e-mails I get in an average day. :suss: :sigh:
David Wulff The Royal Woofle Museum
Putting the laughter back into slaughter
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I don't even look in the headers. Most of the time, looking at the size is enough. If it's 30-40K then it's too big to be a simple mail, but too small for an attachment that makes sense. So I delete it right away. ----------------------- New and improved: kwakkelflap.com My second CP article: MAP files[^] "Hey, Eddie, can I pour you a beer?" "A little early, isn't it, Richy?" "For a beer?" "No, for stupid questions."
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Open letter (aparently): It is Monday morning ... and I'm really pissed off. Why? Well, our incoming email has been disrupted this weekend - this is the second time this year, and we're only up to April. No it's not a server failure at our ISP, and no it's not a virus (not directly anyway) ...we've effectively had a denial of service on our incoming business email, because of all the auto-response emails kindly advising us that a message we never sent included a virus. If you are a Sys-Admin, or Keeper-of-the-Mail-Server, I would ask you to read this very carefully - there's some important stuff further down that could affect you ...and if you happen to be feeling sharp pains about your person, this is because I'm busy throwing darts at your effigy. Look - I'm genuinely pleased that you've managed to set up your mail servers so they automatically trap a live virus - excellent, well done! In fact my pleasure is not unlike that of a proud father whose offspring has just managed his/her first poo into the potty instead of all over the floor. But my pleasure has waned as you continue to tell me about it - repeatedly. So, let's establish a couple of facts... 1. Here at "Visible Form" we do NOT send out infected emails - ever. We have NEVER done so, and will do our utmost in the future to ensure that this remains the case. Like you, we run up-to-date virus checkers on incoming and outgoing, we have a hardware firewall, and our mail server ISP does NOT have an open relay - in fact we can only send email via this ISP if we connect directly to their system. The ISP we use for our day-to-day connection will only allow us to use their mail servers and 'spoof' our own FROM address if we've already asked for (and got) permission, which includes providing evidence that we own the domains in question. 2. Most viruses spoof the FROM email address. Do I really need to explain to you that this means the virus-containing email DID NOT come from the FROM address? You do know this, don't you? You do KNOW this? DO YOU KNOW THIS?? These are facts - read them slowly and repeatedly until they sink in. Write this in big letters and put it up on the wall: "most VIRUS emails SPOOF the FROM address". I am pleased you've pooed in your potty - sorry, trapped a live virus - but it was not sent from here, and I do not need to know about it. I especially do not need to know about it several hundred, even thousand, times. You see, what has happened here is that the virus is no longer the problem