I opened up the one e-mail I had not deleted that looked like it might have a virus and had gone through the IEEE servers. What I found was that the IEEE server had removed the virus from the e-mail. It did forward the e-mail on to the list, however it was virus free.
All of the e-mail sent to the emc-pstc list goes through the IEEE virus scans, before going to the list. In fact if you have a IEEE alias it goes through the same virus scan (they now have a spam filter you can adjust on your alias account). I have dealt enough with the admins at the IEEE to know how they are setup. And I consider it to be first class setup, but no system is ever perfect in a world of constantly new viruses. The IEEE uses the same anti virus software as we do on our facilities outgoing UNIX based e-mail server. The software automatically updates once an hour. As it runs on a UNIX system, it does not have any of the typical issues that one of the other operating systems might have. The IEEE uses only UNIX servers for all of the e-mail lists and aliases. The software they use sends a warning to their admins on the status of all updates. So if something goes wrong with the updates the admin knows about it. My logs show our server received new data files late last night for 48 new viruses. The vendor they/we use is one of the fastest at updating the files. In fact my PC's virus files (a different vendor) are typically updated 4 to 6 hours behind our UNIX server. The only issue is that there is always a period of time when a virus first shows up that none of the scanners have data files. Someone has to get the virus and forward it to the anti virus companies, then the anti virus companies update their data files. Until that happens there is no protection. In fact some of the more recent viruses make sure not to send viruses to anyone at any of the anti virus companies or even any admin accounts to help slow down their detection. As our list is a international list we will be more susceptible to early viruses than other lists might be. We also have the file filters on the emc-pstc list turned down so only small files can go through (less than 100K). Any virus with any size to it can not go to the emc-pstc list as a result. That should also help prevent viruses going to the emc-pstc list. We also ask that no one send files through the emc-pstc list server and use our website to post such files. For that reason you should never open an e-mail that has an attachment that appears to have come through the list. As the IEEE server cleans the file before it hits our limit filter, a cleaned virus free message makes it through. The actual virus would not have passed the size limit restrictions. If you got a virus it more than likely did not go through the IEEE servers or it was before the virus files were updated. The virus more than likely used a self generated "reply to" address to make it look like it is from someone it is not really from. Most of the new viruses do this so you can not tell who the infected person is to call them and tell them they are infected. Take a look at the headers (without opening the files) and you will find they did not go through the IEEE servers. Please if you do have virus issues with the list, please just email the admins and we will address it with the IEEE. You should always e-mail all of us in case one of us is on the road. We would like to keep the list on topic and viruses are not on topic. Jim This message is from the IEEE EMC Society Product Safety Technical Committee emc-pstc discussion list. Visit our web site at: http://www.ieee-pses.org/ To cancel your subscription, send mail to: [email protected] with the single line: unsubscribe emc-pstc For help, send mail to the list administrators: Ron Pickard: [email protected] Dave Heald: [email protected] For policy questions, send mail to: Richard Nute: [email protected] Jim Bacher: [email protected] All emc-pstc postings are archived and searchable on the web at: http://www.ieeecommunities.org/emc-pstc
