What's wrong with Webmail?

If you have been frustrated with John Carroll University’s Webmail problems lately, you are not alone.  JCU’s Information Technology Department is not too happy either, according to James Burke, director of computing systems and services.

“There are two separate issues in play,” said Burke. “The first issue is the use of our server by spammers. The second issue is related to what we suspect to be a software problem with the e-mail server.”

Although the spamming problem has been solved, the server is still an issue.  JCU Information Services has been working with the vendor to isolate and correct any issues. Burke said that “[his] confidence is waning,” with the server vendor.

Spam e-mail is a scheme to make money. Spammers send out e-mails asking for specific information on how to gain access to peoples’ accounts and hope that they get a few replies.

Last Saturday, the day the original spam e-mail was sent out through JCU’s network, there was also a similar spam e-mail sent out at Case Western Reserve University.

 “JCU Information Services staff have been working with the e-mail system vendor to put safeguards in place to make our server less attractive to spammers,” said Burke. “We have also put early-warning measures in place so we can respond to future attacks more quickly.”

The e-mails ask for people’s usernames and passwords, and out of the thousands of e-mails that were sent out over JCU’s network, the spammers only needed between 30 and 50 responses. It is not clear how many students responded.

They then log into those people’s accounts and send out mass e-mails to the public telling them that they have won the lottery or won a prize from Pepsi. People are then asked to reply with specific information that the spammers can use to make money such as credit card numbers and bank account information.

Only a few responses are needed to make the several thousand spam e-mails worthwhile.

Each theft is typically small, making it difficult to obtain law enforcement attention to address the problem, according to Burke.