[Editors] Fwd: Are you in the MIT Aeronautics/Astronautics Department?

Fri Mar 26 12:59:16 EDT 2010

Without the original full header of the email, it's impossible to say  
where this email originated from.

So not knowing that, this would be my suggestion to the recipient of  
an email like this:

Because the email is worded in a way that can be interpreted to be  
suspicious (no name or greeting at the top of the email; the long urls  
within the email which look like they could take you to a dangerous  
place; the lack of a phone number to contact a real person; and the  
unofficial way the email was worded) it is a good idea to make sure  
this really did come from a legitimate person.

I would email Richard Price at richard.price at academia.edu to find out  
if he really did send it. If he did, in addition I would send him my  
concerns about the way the email was sent. Explain that schools are  
very wary of phishing emails these days and his made many of us wonder.

One other item that made me wonder about this one, in addition to what  
other folks have mentioned in this thread, is that if you searched for  
the person at MIT he was trying to reach (Jonathan P How), his name  
comes up immediately. He is listed in the MIT directory as a faculty  
member, has his own web page hosted by MIT and is on the department's  
directory list. So there shouldn't have been any question for  
Academia.edu about this person's status (which they claim is 'unknown').

I hope this helps. If you'd like to get the technical analysis of the  
email's origins, you can forward it along with full headers to computing-help at mit.edu

Thanks,

Monique

=========================
Monique Yeaton
IT Security Awareness Consultant
MIT Information Services & Technology (IS&T)
(617) 253-2715
http://ist.mit.edu/security

On Mar 26, 2010, at 11:09 AM, Bill Litant wrote:

> Thanks, Monica. I'm curious to see what you guys come up with. It is  
> reassuring to know that my repeated warnings to my department about  
> phishing, etc are sinking in and faculty/staff now often send me  
> suspicious emails (and visitors, but that's another story ...)  
> before accessing/responding.
>
> Best,
> Bill
>
> William T.G. Litant
> communications director
> Aeronautics and Astronautics Department
> and
> Partnership for AiR Transportation Noise and Emissions Reduction
> Massachusetts Institute of Technology
> 37-395
> 77 Massachusetts Avenue
> Cambridge, MA 02139 USA
>
> On Mar 26, 2010, at 10:37 AM, Monique Yeaton wrote:
>
>> I am on the IT Security team in IS&T. This looks very fishy to me.  
>> I'll run it by my security analysts.
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>> Monique
>>
>> =========================
>> Monique Yeaton
>> IT Security Awareness Consultant
>> MIT Information Services & Technology (IS&T)
>> (617) 253-2715
>> http://ist.mit.edu/security
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Mar 26, 2010, at 10:32 AM, Violeta Ivanova wrote:
>>
>>> Bill et al.,
>>>
>>> I would forward this to IS&T for security check. It seems very  
>>> fishy to me. I would not follow any of the links in the original  
>>> email.
>>>
>>> A domain name such as academia.edu must cost an arm and a leg. If  
>>> this is "legit", they must pay post-docs really well in Oxford. :)
>>>
>>> Happy Friday!
>>>
>>> Violeta
>>>
>>> __
>>>
>>> Violeta M. Ivanova Ph.D.
>>> http://web.mit.edu/violeta/www
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Mar 26, 2010, at 8:55 AM, Bill Litant wrote:
>>>
>>>> Dear all:
>>>> An AeroAstro faculty member received this, forwarded it to me,  
>>>> and asked if it is "legit." From my examination, while it appears  
>>>> to be in its nascent stages, it looks like the developer put some  
>>>> serious time and thought into the site. While it's too early to  
>>>> tell if there will be any value to the site, I can't think of any  
>>>> reason not to tell him to avoid placing his name on it. Have any  
>>>> of you had any contact with this person or know anything else  
>>>> about the site?
>>>>
>>>> Best,
>>>> B ill
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Subject: Are you in the MIT
>>>>> Aeronautics/Astronautics Department?
>>>>> Date: Thu, 25 Mar 2010 17:22:20 -0700 (PDT)
>>>>> From: Richard Price <richard.price at academia.edu>
>>>>>
>>>>> I am post-doc in philosophy at Oxford. I am
>>>>> also the founder of Academia.edu, which is a
>>>>> global directory of academics, showing who is
>>>>> working at what departments.
>>>>>
>>>>> We are trying to fill out the directory, and
>>>>> already Stephen Hawking, Paul Krugman, Noam
>>>>> Chomsky and Richard Dawkins have signed up.
>>>>> We checked your department directory and we
>>>>> think you fit into the directory in the MIT
>>>>> Aeronautics/Astronautics Department, but we
>>>>> aren't sure. Your status is currently listed
>>>>> as 'Unknown'. Could you confirm that you are
>>>>> a member of this department by following one
>>>>> of the links below?
>>>>>
>>>>> Yes, I am in the MIT Aeronautics/Astronautics
>>>>> Department:
>>>>> http://mit.academia.edu/Yes-Jonathan-P-How-is-a-member-of-MIT-Aeronautics-Astronautics
>>>>>
>>>>> No, the department directory is incorrect, I
>>>>> am not in the MIT Aeronautics/Astronautics
>>>>> Department:
>>>>> http://mit.academia.edu/Remove-Jonathan-P-How-from-MIT-Aeronautics-Astronautics
>>>>>
>>>>> There are currently 4 other members who have
>>>>> confirmed their membership of MIT Aeronautics
>>>>> Astronautics: Javier Garcia, Buy Lortab,
>>>>> Jorge CaÃ±izales and Kiril Sakaliyski.
>>>>>
>>>>> Thanks,
>>>>> Richard
>>>>> http://oxford.academia.edu/RichardPrice
>>>>>
>>>>> ---------------------------
>>>>>
>>>>> Academia.edu's office is at: 2140 Taylor St,
>>>>> #806, San Francisco, CA, 94133. To opt out of
>>>>> receiving these kinds of emails from
>>>>> Academia.edu, go to:
>>>>>
>>>>> http://academia.edu/optout/574327d927c971e0edc7bb044a6a37ec
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
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>>
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