[Editors] Fwd: Are you in the MIT Aeronautics/Astronautics Department?
Bill Litant
wlitant at MIT.EDU
Fri Mar 26 13:39:18 EDT 2010
Thanks, Monique. I'll ping Mr. Price and see what he has to say.
Best,
Bill
On Mar 26, 2010, at 12:59 PM, Monique Yeaton wrote:
> 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 Cañizales 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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