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

[William Litant]

Dear all:

FYI - I emailed Price early Friday morning asking for details about his site, etc. It's now middle of the afternoon Monday in the UK and I have not received a response. I would give him another day or two, but it's looking, at best, amateurish. I'll let you know if I hear anything.

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 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
>>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> Editors mailing list
>>>>> Editors at mit.edu
>>>>> http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/editors
>>>> 
>>>> <ATT00001.c>
>>> 
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