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E-mail Defense System (EDS). The problem today. 15,000,000 virus-infected e-mail messages and millions of junk e-mail messages go across the NU Network each year; both are on the rise.
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The problem today • 15,000,000 virus-infected e-mail messages and millions of junk e-mail messages go across theNU Network each year; both are on the rise. • University constituents and NUIT are very concerned about the increase of junk mail and viruses, and the effect on productivity. • Webmail and handheld devices cannot benefit from desktop e-mail client junk mail filtering tools.
What has NU been doing about this? • Information about client side filtering has been made available on the NUIT Web site. • www.it.northwestern.edu/security/spam • Conversations with NU Legal have been in process to ensure that server level filtering does not violate the pursuit of academic freedom. • NUIT has been monitoring the marketplace. It wasn’t until recently that a clear leader emerged at a price point that is acceptable to the University. • NUIT has conferred with peer institutions to learn from their experience. • Dec. 2004-Sept. 2005: Completed trial, purchase and deployment of Sophos PureMessage (a.k.a. NU’s E-mail Defense System) on our central e-mail servers.
How will this help with viruses? • Stops and deletes most infected messages and attachments, preventing them from reaching the desktop. • Automatically downloads the latest enterprise levelvirus definitions (versus previous home-grown system). • As NUIT has previously announced, EDS has been filtering viruses since May 2005 and uses the most recent virus definitions available.
What are the benefits? • Productivity increases (less time spent going through unsolicited e-mail). • WebMail becomes a more useful tool. • Less chance of a user hitting the 50MB quota on the e-mail server. • Increased network security.
Quarantine How does it work? EDS
What’s a “quarantine”? • Separate location on the network holds blocked unsolicited messages. • To minimize ISP blocking, not available for alumni. • Blocked messages held in quarantine 7 days before deletion. • Can extend for up to 120 days. • Managed through daily quarantine digest or Web site.
How it works October 3, 2005: EDS scanning will begin.
What can I do to manage my messages? • From the daily quarantine digest: • Review junk e-mail messages. • Retrieve messages from quarantine. • From the Web page: • Opt out and in. • Retrieve messages from quarantine (for those who use WebMail, are traveling, or want to change EDS options). • Turn daily digest delivery off and on. • Add or delete blocked or approved senders. • Extend quarantine in special cases or when away from e-mail for longer periods of time.
Things to be aware of • Web site is a slower option for managing quarantined messages; use daily digest instead. • Listserv messages are not scanned. • www.it.northwestern.edu/listserv/ • System not 100% foolproof; there may befalse positives and false negatives. • Some client-side filtering still required. • www.it.northwestern.edu/security/spam • You can always opt out!!
E-mail Digest Demo • E-mail Defense System Demo www.northwestern.edu/eds • EDS Web site www.it.northwestern.edu/security/eds * Please review this site before October 3! *
Questions? Contact: NUIT Support Center 847-491-HELP (4357) or consultant@northwestern.edu