Sobig Worm Floods Email Systems, but Virus Wall Keeps Lab Systems Safe
The SUSPECTED SPAM messages started with a trickle Monday, became a torrent on Tuesday and remained a steady stream all week as a result of a reinvigorated worm known as Sobig.F. The Lab’s Virus Wall scrubbed the worm from 30,883 messages on Tuesday, Aug. 19, alone.

Lab Library to Survey Users on Balancing Services with Tightening Budget, Rising Costs
The Lab’s Library, which is facing tighter budgets, rising costs and changing patterns for usage, will soon begin surveying members of the LBNL scientific and technical staff to better determine user needs and expectations.

CSAC Provides Lab Staff with Direct Link on Computing, Communications Services
Have questions or concerns about such services as central email, desktop computer support, telephones, networking, central business applications, TEID and computer security? If so, Lab staff members can contact their division representative on the Computing and Communications Services Advisory Committee, or CSAC.

Existing NT Master Domain Being Migrated to Active Directory
In a move that is hopefully invisible to most Lab staff, ITSD has been moving NT4 Master Domain file and print sharing accounts to a new Microsoft Active Directory environment, with the goal of retiring the current NT4 domain by the end of 2004.

Meet SAM: ITSD’s Updated System for Managing Recharge Accounts
A year and a half ago, the Information Technologies and Services Division rolled out a good idea – a project to provide the Lab’s budget analysts with a one-stop shop for maintaining current project IDs for recharge service accounts (e.g., IMAP email). The only downside of the effort was the name – the "single project ID database." ITSD has rechristened the system with an easier-to-remember name, SAM, for the Service Account Management (SAM) system.

Study Finds Spam Blocking Systems Also Stop Legitimate Email

According to a private study reported in the Denver Business Journal, the spam-blocking techniques used by various Internet service providers also block legitimate email. An average of 17 percent of the blocked messages were permission-based, or marketing information requested by the recipient. This “false-positive” situation is a key reason why the Lab has chosen to tag “SUSPECTED SPAM” and deliver it, rather than just deleting it. More information about this issue is available in the Brightmail FAQ entry: "What's the benefit of tagging spam vs. deleting spam?"