Small company hires me to upgrade their systems and streamline their operations. All new PCs to replace dinosaurs, etc. Some training and people are happy. They decide to have me secure a new website www.newsite.com since it better reflects their newer business direction than www.oldsite.com. I also set up the users on outlook with user@newsite.com addresses. People are real happy as the company has been previously SHARING 1 FVCKING AOL ADDRESS. Each person would arbitrarily check it whenever it suited them. People are happy with the Outlook vs. AOL.
Here's where the idiocy kicks in.
I get a call that one user is flooded with spam. Easily 30-50 pieces a day, and the user ended up deleting good mail as well in his frustration. I questioned how this could be as the address was virgin, having been only created very recently. I proposed either an intentional signing up on of those SPAM web pages, or that their address was compromised in another way. When I propose anti-spam measures, the owner flips, toting the superiroty of AOL or even Hotmail. I am asked "Why can't we just use hotmails free e-mail filters with our web site name?" I lack words to descrie the WTF? look on my face. We come up with a solution of simply creating a new account.
While doing that, I decided to see if I could trace this spam... I log into the user's webmail account. And yes, he was flooded with SPAM. Here's the kicker. It wasn't being addressed to him. It was being addressed to info@oldsite.com. I later gathered that this company had the webmaster of www.oldsite.com forward all mail from info@oldsite.com to screweduser@newsite.com. This info@oldsite.com was never checked so no one knew it had been compromised by bots and crawlers.
Keep in mind, this user was extrememly frustrated and this feeliing was starting to be directed at me, because I clearly invented SPAM and invited it upon his systems. In the name of $ and professionalism, I was polite in my explanation to them, but as a colleague pointed out, I was slightly patronizing. Company is happy again and think I am the messiah now.
Here's where the idiocy kicks in.
I get a call that one user is flooded with spam. Easily 30-50 pieces a day, and the user ended up deleting good mail as well in his frustration. I questioned how this could be as the address was virgin, having been only created very recently. I proposed either an intentional signing up on of those SPAM web pages, or that their address was compromised in another way. When I propose anti-spam measures, the owner flips, toting the superiroty of AOL or even Hotmail. I am asked "Why can't we just use hotmails free e-mail filters with our web site name?" I lack words to descrie the WTF? look on my face. We come up with a solution of simply creating a new account.
While doing that, I decided to see if I could trace this spam... I log into the user's webmail account. And yes, he was flooded with SPAM. Here's the kicker. It wasn't being addressed to him. It was being addressed to info@oldsite.com. I later gathered that this company had the webmaster of www.oldsite.com forward all mail from info@oldsite.com to screweduser@newsite.com. This info@oldsite.com was never checked so no one knew it had been compromised by bots and crawlers.
Keep in mind, this user was extrememly frustrated and this feeliing was starting to be directed at me, because I clearly invented SPAM and invited it upon his systems. In the name of $ and professionalism, I was polite in my explanation to them, but as a colleague pointed out, I was slightly patronizing. Company is happy again and think I am the messiah now.
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