Updated: 29 August 2001
Chebucto User and Neighbourhood
Account
Agreements updated
Due to the recent spate of internet viruses and similar mischief, the
Chebucto Community Net User Agreement and Neighbourhood Account
agreements have been modified to help give Chebucto administrators
additional options for dealing with problems.
The previous Clause 2 has been modified to include the
restriction of account services and privileges in the event of untoward
account activity and a new Clause 8 has been added to explicitly allow
virus and spam filtering of mail and data. The new Chebucto User Agreement
can be found here
and the new Neighbourhood Account Agreement can be found here. The new
Agreements are in effect now for all users.
Virus filtering successful
Mail filters designed to trap the W32/SirCam and Hybris worms have proven
to be effective. The filters, which check for particular patterns within
the virus structure, trapped more than 1000 virus-laden emails within
their first 48 hours of operation. While there are no current plans to add
more viruses to the filter, the filter design allows for it. Chebucto's
filtering of these particular viruses should not be considered a
substitute for users protecting themselves with good anti-virus software
kept up-to-date with current virus patterns.
Email viruses hit Chebucto users
Email viruses continue to cause trouble for
Chebucto text and Chebucto Plus users.
Windows 2000 and Windows NT users are vulnerable to the Code Red and Code
Red II worms. There is a software patch that protects these users from
these worms and instructions for applying the software patch here:
http://microsoft.com/technet/itsolutions/security/topics/codealrt.asp
As mentioned in the news item above, Chebucto now filters
for the W32/ SirCam and Hybris worms. There have been some reports of user
infection with other viruses, notably the Magistr worm.
The Chebucto Community Net strongly recommends that all Chebucto Plus users have anti-virus software
and that they keep their virus definitions updated frequently, no less
than once a month.
An excellent source of information is Chebucto UserHelp Team Leader Norman
De Forest's Anti-Virus page, which includes links to more information
and help in fixing an infected computer:
http://chebucto.ca/~af380/antivirus.html
Chebucto Vice Chair Resigns
James Carroll, popular Vice Chair of the Chebucto Community Net Society
has resigned due to his new job in Ottawa moving him away from Halifax.
James was originally hired to help Chebucto run a member survey and became
heavily involved in volunteer duties, joining the Chebucto Board and soon
after the Board Executive Committee, where he served as Treasurer,
Secretary and Vice Chair in quick succession.
A powerhouse of an organizer, when you could catch him as he whizzed past,
James' ready wit and sense of fair play will be missed.
Outlook user email advisory
After the recent wave of viruses specifically targetting users of
Microsoft Outlook and Outlook Express email programs, and the constant
stream of user complaints about randomly altered program settings and
difficulty using the program, the Chebucto Community Net Office and the
Chebucto Technical Committee recommend our users do not use either Outlook
or Outlook Express as their email program.
Windows Users can find a selection of email programs available for
download
here and Macintosh
users can find a selection of email programs
here.
New Chebucto By-Laws now in
effect
The new Chebucto Community Net Society By-Laws approved by
Special Resolution at this year's AGM have been approved by the Provincial
government and are now in effect. The new By-Laws can be found
here
and through the Chebucto text service by using the g)o bylaws shortcut
(when in Lynx, type gbylaws then hit Enter or Return).
Chebucto gets a new domain name!
Chebucto has acquired the new domain name chebucto.ca. This new name can be
used for web page addresses on Chebucto as well as email addresses on
Chebucto. The existing domain name chebucto.ns.ca will still work
for both web page addresses and email addresses and there is no plan to
discontinue it. Users are advised to only use chebucto.ns.ca to
subscribe to mailing lists due to the configuration of outgoing mail from
Chebucto.
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