From chigashi@uci.edu Thu Oct 3 19:59:43 2002 From: chigashi@uci.edu (Clyde Higashida) Date: Thu, 3 Oct 2002 11:59:43 -0700 Subject: [UCINet-Announce] Scheduled Network Outage for Social Science Plaza "B" Message-ID: --============_-1178450913==_ma============ Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" ; format="flowed" NETWORK OUTAGE: Social Science Plaza "B" (Building 213) On October 4th at 7:00 A.M., we will be replacing a defective part in Social Science's Plaza "B" building switch. All network connectivity to this building will not be available for approximately 30 minutes. The following networks will not be available during this network outage: 128.195.160.xxx 128.195.171.xxx Here is a brief history of the problem. On September 27, we lost network connectivity to Social Science Plaza "B." After some troubleshooting, it was determined that a fiber module in the building switch failed. We were able to reconfigure the building switch to bypass the defective part until a replacement part arrived. The replacement part arrived yesterday; we must now schedule a time to replace the defective part. Clyde -- Clyde Higashida NACS Network Engineer University of California - Irvine Phone:949-824-9330 Fax: 949-824-2270 chigashi@uci.edu --============_-1178450913==_ma============ Content-Type: text/html; charset="us-ascii" Scheduled Network Outage for Social Science Plaza "B"
NETWORK OUTAGE: Social Science Plaza "B" (Building 213)

On October 4th at 7:00 A.M., we will be replacing a defective part in Social Science's Plaza "B" building switch. All network connectivity to this building will not be available for approximately 30 minutes.

The following networks will not be available during this network outage:

  128.195.160.xxx
128.195.171.xxx

Here is a brief history of the problem. On September 27, we lost network connectivity to Social Science Plaza "B." After some troubleshooting, it was determined that a fiber module in the building switch failed. We were able to reconfigure the building switch to bypass the defective part until a replacement part arrived. The replacement part arrived yesterday; we must now schedule a time to replace the defective part.


Clyde

--============_-1178450913==_ma============-- From bgroode@uci.edu Sat Oct 5 00:47:07 2002 From: bgroode@uci.edu (Brian Roode) Date: Fri, 4 Oct 2002 16:47:07 -0700 Subject: [UCINet-Announce] Spam Documentation Available Message-ID: <9784038C-D7F3-11D6-9CB7-00039376218E@uci.edu> Hello, The latest spam filtering documentation is available on the NACS web server at: http://www.nacs.uci.edu/email/spam-assassin.html Instructions for creating filters for Windows XP Outlook have been added. We will be adding documentation for filtering spam using "procmail" on *nix soon. Brian Roode NACS From IGLESIAS@uci.edu Fri Oct 18 00:51:43 2002 From: IGLESIAS@uci.edu (Mike IGLESIAS) Date: Thu, 17 Oct 2002 16:51:43 -0700 Subject: [UCINet-Announce] NetBIOS ports to be blocked Nov 5th Message-ID: <200210172351.g9HNphn11438@draco.acs.uci.edu> On November 5th at 8am, Network & Academic Computing Services (NACS) plans to block Windows NetBIOS ports at the border router. NetBIOS ports--which are required for certain Windows network functions such as file sharing-- provide doorways to vulnerabilities which are widely used to break into systems and exploit them in various ways. In order to ensure access to legitimate campus users for critical functions which require NetBIOS access, NACS has rolled-out a campus VPN (Virtual Private Network) service, which is now available for use. Exploiters of NetBIOS services who penetrate system defenses use these systems as "warez sites" to distribute copyrighted material (such as software, music, games, and movies), or as "Zombies" to effect denial of service attacks to systems both on and off campus. Not only does this increase the campus Internet bill beyond projected budgets, it also increases the work-load for the campus population. Tracking down this type of activity is incredibly time-intensive and correcting compromised systems consumes significant staff, faculty and student resources, detracting from the educational and research role of the University. In addition, the University is required by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act to remove all such copyrighted material as it is discovered. "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." The following ports will be blocked both coming into campus and going off campus: 135 tcp/udp 137 tcp/udp 138 tcp/udp 139 tcp/udp 445 tcp/udp The port-blocking will affect all Windows file sharing to and from off-campus hosts, as well as any other access to systems via NetBIOS protocols. It will not affect NetBIOS services between Residential Housing units and the campus. Information on the new campus VPN service and how to use it can be found at http://www.nacs.uci.edu/security/vpn.html. You can use the VPN service to access campus hosts from any system off-campus or the campus wireless network. Cox, AT&T and certain other cable-modem users will find the service immediately useful, as Cox and AT&T already blocks NetBIOS ports. Also, users of UCInet Mobile Access may use the VPN service to establish secure, encrypted tunnels from the campus wireless networks. Mike Iglesias UCI Network Security Coordinator Internet: iglesias@draco.acs.uci.edu University of California, Irvine phone: 949-824-6926 Network & Academic Computing Services FAX: 949-824-2069 From bgroode@uci.edu Mon Oct 21 18:39:43 2002 From: bgroode@uci.edu (Brian Roode) Date: Mon, 21 Oct 2002 10:39:43 -0700 Subject: [UCINet-Announce] 2002-10-21 @uci.edu Mail Queue Delays Message-ID: <15453717-E51C-11D6-A057-00039376218E@uci.edu> Hello, At approximately 1AM this morning an electronic mail loop was formed that kept the MTA machines very busy. The loop was blocked by 8AM and current email delivery was returned to normal shortly after that. Mail that was sent to @uci.edu email addresses between 1AM and 8AM this morning will be delayed but should be delivered by this morning. More information on mail loops and how we handle them: Mail loops form for various reasons. Last nights loop occurred when someone off-campus sent mail to their previous @uci.edu email address that was recently purged from our system. This is not normally a problem, however, the account the person used to send the message from was set up to forward to their non-existent @uci.edu address. The MTA machines send an error message back when the recipient cannot be located and so a loop was formed. This persons account apparently also sends a copy to his local account (the same one that forwards to @uci.edu) so that generates another loop that in turn generates two more messages. Mail loops fill the MTA queues with tens of thousands of undeliverable messages in a short period of time and slow down the normal delivery of email. To get current mail flowing again we temporarily move the queue full of mostly failed messages out of the way of normal delivery and then sift the good messages back into the currently running queue for delivery. The process of moving valid messages back into the currently running queues takes time so mail messages sent last night might not be received until later this morning. Brian Roode NACS From IGLESIAS@uci.edu Thu Oct 24 02:51:01 2002 From: IGLESIAS@uci.edu (Mike IGLESIAS) Date: Wed, 23 Oct 2002 18:51:01 -0700 Subject: [UCINet-Announce] Campus network outage Oct 23 4:20pm - 6:30pm Message-ID: <200210240151.g9O1p1n22405@draco.acs.uci.edu> At around 4:20pm Wednesday Oct 23, campus connectivity to the Internet was lost. After some work tracking it down, it was determined that a host on campus was attacking random hosts on the Internet, which caused the campus firewall to slow down to the point that it was no longer passing packets. The network with the offending host was located around 6:30pm and turned off, and the problem went away. If you have any questions about this outage, please contact NACS at x42222 or send email to nacs@uci.edu. Mike Iglesias Internet: iglesias@draco.acs.uci.edu University of California, Irvine phone: 949-824-6926 Network & Academic Computing Services FAX: 949-824-2069 From schaefer@uci.edu Tue Oct 29 17:14:11 2002 From: schaefer@uci.edu (John Schaefer) Date: Tue, 29 Oct 2002 09:14:11 -0800 Subject: [UCINet-Announce] VOICE MAIL OUTAGE Message-ID: <5.1.1.5.2.20021029090930.00acb090@pop.uci.edu> One of the hard drives in the campus Voice Mail system had a major "write" failure which cause the system to reboot. Access to Voice Mail should be within the next 10 to 15 minutes. We apology for any inconvenience this failure may have caused. John Schaefer System Analyst Networking & Academic Computing Services University of California, Irvine 949.824.6799