New Virus-Scanning Service for Selected Email Domains

November 3, 2003 :: Reni Roberts, ISC Networking and Telecommunications

In an effort to combat the increasing prevalence of viruses with the potential for contaminating University email and networking services, ISC Networking and Telecommunications is introducing a new virus scanning service for selected Penn email domains, effective the first week of November. All email sent to and from users in the admissions, ben.dev, dental, design, dolphin, mail.med, and pobox domains will be scanned for viruses by an off-site vendor (while still adhering to the University's policies on security and privacy).

Messages identified as containing viruses will be quarantined on an off-site server for 30 days, after which they will automatically be discarded. Neither the sender nor the recipient will receive notification about these quarantined messages. Summary reports of quarantined messages (denoting only address of sender, intended recipient, and type of virus) will be sent to ISC Networking and Telecommunications and forwarded to the account administrator for each domain. Any eligible user with concerns about a specific email message that may have been mistakenly quarantined should contact their Local Support Provider (LSP) or account administrator.

While messages will be scanned to help stem the spread of computer viruses, virus scanning will not catch all viruses. Users are always advised to use desktop anti-virus software and exercise caution before opening e-mail file attachments.
To learn more about this new offering, please visit the Virus Scanning Service page, or contact your LSP or account administrator.