Re: Education sector most affected by malware

["Jason C. Belford" <jason.belford () OIT GATECH EDU>]

While it is true vendors have been on lurking on this list for a while, I suspect many people did not know vendors were 
on the list when they responded to possibly embarassment-invoking questions like the number of takedown notices 
received by their institutions (see threads from last few weeks).  However, knowing that the audience for this list is 
much larger than first thought, I think many of those posters will think twice before responding to future requests for 
information on this list.

--Jason

On Oct 7, 2010, at 11:51 AM, Roger Safian wrote:

> It's been an issue for years.  Personally I don't think it's much of a
> problem.  Vendors who abuse their use of the list are likely to get slammed
> here, and likely will have fewer sales in this market.  We have had vendors
> reply to messages with good information, as well, so they're not all bad.
> Besides, how do you stop it?  It's not that difficult to get a .edu address.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: The EDUCAUSE Security Constituent Group Listserv
> [mailto:SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU] On Behalf Of Gina Mieszczak
> Sent: Thursday, October 07, 2010 10:43 AM
> To: SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU
> Subject: Re: [SECURITY] Education sector most affected by malware
>
> I believed that that was what this list was for - to share information among
> the Universities.  If vendors are trolling the list, I'd like to know before
> I posted any information.  If that's the case, I'd rather contact people off
> list and go that route.
>
> Is anyone aware of this sort of activity?
>
> Thanks!
>
> Gina
>
>
> Gina Mieszczak
> Network Security Administrator
> Email: gmieszcz () iit edu
> Phone: 312.567.3879
> Fax: 312.567.5968
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: The EDUCAUSE Security Constituent Group Listserv
> [mailto:SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU] On Behalf Of DiGrazia, Mick A
> Sent: Thursday, October 07, 2010 10:29 AM
> To: SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU
> Subject: Re: [SECURITY] Education sector most affected by malware
>
> I wanted to just caution the group that after sending this email I received
> a sales attempt from Blue Coat referencing my email, wanting to discuss how
> to prevent "such malware" at our institution.
>
> I clearly sent the message to provoke discussion not as a cry for help from
> vendors anxious to make a large sale. I thought this list was for higher
> education InfoSec professionals but learned that this may not be the case. 
>
> While Blue Coat will never receive my business based on their questionable
> tactics, I wanted to make the group aware that this list may not be the best
> place to be sharing information pertinent to your organization; unless, of
> course you feel that this type of use (and perhaps other, more insidious
> uses) of this list are okay. 
>
> If Blue Coat is trolling the list for sales opportunities, I'd question who
> else has access to this list and harvesting information.
>
>
> Mick A. DiGrazia
> University of Connecticut
> Information Technology Services
> (860) 486-1336
> mick.digrazia () uconn edu
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: DiGrazia, Mick A
> Sent: Wednesday, October 06, 2010 9:16 AM
> To: The EDUCAUSE Security Constituent Group Listserv
> Subject: Education sector most affected by malware
>
> Education owns 44% of malware infections by industry
>
> http://www.scmagazineus.com/education-sector-most-affected-by-malware/articl
> e/180337/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+SCMagaz
> ineHome+%28SC+Magazine%29
>
>
> Mick A. DiGrazia
> University of Connecticut
> Information Technology Services
> (860) 486-1336
> mick.digrazia () uconn edu


--
Jason C. Belford
Information Security Manager
Office of Information Technology
Georgia Institute of Technology
Phone: (404) 894 - 6159