On a daily basis, UAF's e-mail server receives 50,000 to 70,000 e-mails. But according to the Department of Computing & Communications, approximately 10,000 of these messages are spam.

Jo Knox, the system administrator, is in charge of blocking spam and viruses from the Aurora e-mail server. Knox maintains a huge list of e-mail addresses that have at some point sent a piece of unsolicited e-mail. Messages from these addresses are blocked, but despite the department's efforts, some spam does still makes to inboxes.

 "We're only rejecting maybe half," said Knox.

During the past year, UAF's Aurora e-mail users have received messages advertising "mystery shopper" job positions, paid surveys, and dating services.

In December, many faculty and students received messages advertising the FairbanksDates.Com, a dating service intended for UAF students, alumni, and faculty. The dating company is now on DC & C's block list.

Brad Armstrong, the CEO of FairbanksDates.Com's parent company White Buffalo Ventures, stressed that the dating company is "in no way affiliated with the university." White Buffalo Ventures is based out of Austin, Texas and specializes in making dating websites related to different universities and interests. Other sites include GreenBayConnect.Com, WSUSingles.com, and CyclingSingles.Com.

Armstrong said that government-run universities like UAF are required by federal law to provide e-mail addresses to businesses and individuals upon request. Knox, however, disagreed with this statement, saying that the university does not give out student e-mail addresses.

Knox did suggest other ways that spammers could find addresses. One way to is to change the username portion of the address to different first names that a program has been told to try. A message is then sent to see if the address is real. This can be an inefficient process, though, especially with UAF addresses, which are usually composed of initials instead of names.

Another way is to use "robots" that are dispatched across the Internet to harvest e-mail addresses from websites, newsgroups, and other sources. Spammers may then trade addresses amongst themselves.

Spammers could also potentially take advantage of UAF's Finger Gateway, which is a directory of all Aurora names and e-mails.

A quick search can find anyone's e-mail address. Since the gateway also features middle initials, spammers could potentially find almost every UAF e-mail address by going down the alphabet.

Knox said that the university has considered disabling the Finger Gateway. Although many residents and faculty find it useful, the list could be disabled if "there's a lot of concern that spammers are using it."

In December of 2003, President George W. Bush signed into law the CAN-SPAM Act. The law, which became effective Jan. 1, requires spammers to provide a physical address, prohibits harvesting addresses from websites, and requires a way to "opt-out" of the e-mails.

However, Knox advises against using opt-out options, since some spammers may use it to confirm the viability of an address and then trade it to others. Instead, Knox said the "easiest thing to do is delete them."

DC & C is looking at better ways to block spam, such as new hardware and software. Although he is unsure what methods and technologies will be ultimately be added, Knox said that the department's focus would increase.

"At the very least, in the future we'll do something more proactive."

Comment on this story...