By Chris Brown

Unsolicited e-mail, known as “spam,” is among a number of growing problems burdening Internet users worldwide. Spam, like viruses, worms, and Trojan horses, causes not only headaches and hassle, but can also lead to more serious computer problems, especially when spam messages carry with them any number of “bugged” attachments.

The University of Louisville’s Information Technology department is working to help its computer users combat the spam problem, as well as to fix several other possible security concerns.

Both U of L’s NetMail and GroupWise e-mail systems, used by students and staff, respectively, are now equipped with optional spam filtering capabilities that can catch up to 75-80 percent of unwanted e-mails, according Angela Foote, an I.T. client partner working on the project.

The system allows users to filter e-mail into their inboxes and other folders according to messages’ characteristics. As Brenda Gombosky, director of Data Center Services explained, when an e-mail arrives at a user’s address, the new software flags certain keywords and other attributes of the message and assigns points to those items.

“Users can set a score so that [the filter] recognizes messages with that score or higher as spam,” Gombosky said. “4.0 is about right for most users.”

She also explained that users can filter e-mail messages based on characteristics like the sender’s “handle” (the first part of the email address) or originating domain name. Messages are sorted into two lists according to the user’s specifications: the white list and the black list. “E-mails that are white-listed are sent to the inbox; e-mails that are black-listed are considered spam,” she said. The e-mail filtering software scans messages that are not first recognized by the two lists and filters them according to the points system. Users can establish folders within their e-mail boxes to collect the filtered mail.

In-house programming for the new system, Gombosky explained, saved money on development costs, since the university didn’t have to pay to outsource the job, but instead only had to pay for manpower it already had on staff.

Foote said the system has been up and running since early March.

Gombosky said that I.T. is continually updating the software’s definition files, which tell it which e-mails to identify as spam. “A scheme [characteristic] must exist before the software can identify it,” she said. “New rules are always being programmed to update the system.”

“So far we’ve gotten mostly positive feedback,” Gombosky said. “People just shouldn’t have unreasonable expectations of the system.”

“I get a lot of spam and I hate it,” said junior Political Science major John Coots. “I’m glad they’re getting a spam filter.”

Students like Joseph Violet, a Communication major, share Coots’ feelings and think the spam-filtering system can help university computer users. “I will use it,” he said. “It will be beneficial because it will allow the students to choose what type of mail they will receive.”

In addition to the spam-filtering solution, I.T. has also been working to implement several other security improvements across the university’s computer systems. Within the past year, the department added virus protection functions to student e-mail that scan all incoming NetMail messages through the Norton AntiVirus system, which is updated nearly every day with new protection information.

NetMail and GroupWise also now block all incoming executable attachments to prevent an executable file from delivering a virus or other harmful agent to a user’s computer when a message is opened. Gombosky explained that students should instead send executable files in “zipped” format, which can be done using a variety of popular free or pay programs. She said the university has a site license for PK Zip and that students and staff can download the free software by visiting http://softwareresales.louisville.edu and clicking the “Free Software” link on the page. The software is also available for $8 from I.T. at campus computer centers.

Besides fortifying its e-mail systems with virus protection, spam-filtering and new server registration policies, I.T. is also working to bolster security for other parts of the university’s computer systems in what Gombosky describes as a “three-phase firewall” plan. Phase I added safeguards to protect the school’s academic and financial records system, and was completed on July 1, 2004. On March 11, I.T. implemented Phase II –– the Internet phase of the firewall –– which, Gombosky said, protects against harmful incoming traffic but doesn’t block outgoing traffic. Phase three, expected to be complete by the end of June, will add a “specialized” layer of protection to the firewall system, allowing the various schools and departments of the university to block selected traffic.

Gombosky explained that the addition of the firewall system to the university’s network is in response to the general state of computing and the Internet. Increases in e-mail traffic and the growing number of viruses and worms lurking around the Web are reason enough for I.T. to boost security measures. Gombosky said the firewall will help prevent hackers from access the university network and its data.

Gombosky and Foote said I.T. is working on several other security improvements that students and staff can expect to see in the near future. Information about security and other technology issues is available from I.T.’s Web site at http://www.louisville.edu/it. Students and staff can also find a link to instructions for using the spam filtering software.

 

Security Enhancements

Recently completed…

• Virus protection for student e-mail

• Executable files blocked from incoming messages

• Firewall: Phase I & II

• Spam filtering

Still to come…

• E-mail encryption for GroupWise users

• Improved and expanded patch/update management for network devices

• Secure file transfer capabilities

• Virus protection for handheld devices

Source: U of L I.T. Department