An Introduction to Common Internet Communications
-- Email, Instant Messaging, Newsgroups, and Chat
|
Table Of Contents:
An Introduction to Common Internet Communications --
Email, Instant Messaging, Newsgroups, and Chat
Table Of Contents:
Pre Lab:
Goals for the Lab:
I. Using Email
What is email?
How does email work?
Email Client Applications:
The
email sender or creation functions:
The
email Receiver Client functions:
Email Servers:
The
Email Server Sender functions:
The
Email Server Recipient functions:
The Internet Cloud:
Email Threads
Thoughts
on managing email that is saved:
Spam
(electronic junk mail) and how to avoid it!
Filters
-- Setting up automated rules for processing your email
Signature
Files
Personal
Cards
Netiquette
-- Good manners that your mother taught you work in email
A
Guide to Writing and Using Email Effectively
II. Introduction to specific email systems:
Using Netscape Messenger
-- an Example of a Modern Business Email Client:
Getting started -- Setting
up Messenger
Setting up an address
book
Recording,
Deleting, and Editing the Email Addresses of Individuals
Addressbook
Operations:
Creating,
Deleting, and Editing Email Lists (i.e. Email Lists of Individuals)
Composing email:
Adding Attachments:
Getting a Receipt:
Sending Secure Email:
Signature Files:
Personal Cards:
Receiving email
First
decision -- what to read or trash?
Second
decision -- How to respond?
Reading
the Email:
How do I detach and
read/ view/ listen/ etc. to the attachments?
Additional Features
of the Messenger Email Client:
Folders:
How
to use effectively:
Filters -- Setting up
automated rules for processing your email
Security:
Sort:
Threads:
III. Web based Email:
The advent of web mail:
Some
argue web mail is inherently more insecure than email:
What
is in an email address?
Before
signing up for the web mail read the fine print:
IV. The Dark Side of the Email Communications:
A Note of Caution
Email privacy and security
Internet
or Cyber Terrorism:
Sending Private email
(Encryption):
Email Virus:
A specific example --
The Melissa Virus
A
surprising and unpleasant discovery -- Microsoft strikes again, a false
clue and our privacy violated
A
spell binding collection of web pages about email viruses and their effects.
Why
is denial of service dangerous and so costly?
The
next generation -- mutation and smarter bugs:
Prevention and Cures
for computer viruses:
The Corporate Fortress
Mentality:
Cyber
Blackmail and other industrial crime:
Corporate
intranets and firewalls:
Proxy
Servers:
V. Newsgroups:
Discussion
Groups:
VI. Internet Chat:
Internet Social Behavior
and Relationships:
Finding a Chat Room to
fit your interests:
VII. Instant Messaging:
The
original concept:
Using a typical instant
message application:
Why is this an important
step forward?
The Pro's and Con's of
IM Technology:
Further
Material:
Self Test of Lab Concepts:
Example:
Lab 1 Instructions: An Introduction to
the Internet, the World Wide Web, and Email
Exercise 1 -- Introduction
to the U Mass Lowell Email System
Exercise 2 -- Using
the Email Program
Exercise 3 -- Finding
Email Addresses
Getting
the Email Address and other information on U Mass Lowell students, faculty,
and staff
How
email addresses are assigned by Academic Computing:
Exercise 4 -- How do
I get Free Email after I leave this class or the University? (Optional)
Exercise 5 -- Use A
Newsgroup:
Exercise 6: -- Instant
Messenger:
Exercise 7 -- Internet
Chat: Log into a Chat Room
Step
1: Logic
Step
2: Check out the Chat Room
Step
3: How to avoid people, ask for a private meeting, etc.
Step
4: Create a Web Page of your Favorite Chat Rooms
Summarize your results:
References:
Glossary of New Terms:
Related Tutorials:
Tutorial
on Netiquette and Ethics:
Tutorials for using
email software commonly found on university campuses:
Additional Internet
Tutorials
Computer Security:
Computer
Virus Tutorial:
The
Melissa Virus:
The
I Love You Virus:
Browsers, HTML Editors
and other starting tools:
FAQs:
Applicable Standards:
Other References:
Netscape's Manuals
Library
Email
Pre Lab:
Goals for the Lab:
In this lab the student is given a brief introduction to email and other
forms of Internet communications. The assumption is that the student is somewhat
familiar with the concepts; but the scope of this experience may vary. This
lab, for some, may appear to be moving over familiar concepts, but
the reader is cautioned to pay attention to details. The Internet, as mentioned
in prior material, has gone through a series of development stages over the
last 30 years. Each successive stage was often surprising to the prior generations
of users, developers, and investors. Today, government and businesses are
involved in the Internet as never before, and are changing its face in fits
and starts. This new involvement has lead to the formalization and standardization
of email processes and protocols.
Specific learning goals are:
- To gain some insight into the workplace of today and how Internet
communication applications such as email, instant messenger, and chat are
rapidly changing the modern office and its workforce.
- To review the common use of the email, instant messenger, newsgroups,
and chat.
- To investigate how business and government are changing familiar
email programs into a complex family of tools for work groups.
- Email concepts to be covered:
- creating address books for individuals and lists for groups,
- composing and sending email with some comments on business practice,
- receiving, responding to, and managing email,
- creating and using attachments,
- rules for both proper business and social etiquette of electronic
communications better known as "netiquette".
- Advanced email concepts: receipt requests, priority, filtering,
and getting email anywhere in the world.
- Touching on some technical topics that are critical to users privacy,
security, and safety.
I. Using Email
What is email?
Email is the electronic equivalent of sending a letter. Email consists
of two parts, 1) the header, which contains information about where the message
will be sent, and 2) the body, or message. First, the author goes to the
head of the email message and types in:
- the email addresses of the person(s) to receive it, i.e. the To:
- the sender's email addresses, i.e. the From:
- the sender may want the email reply sent elsewhere, i.e. Reply
to:
- the email addresses of the person(s) to receive the Cc: and
Bcc: copies (normally this is used to create file and information copies),
- the Subject: ,which tells the receiver of the email what
the message is about. It is a breach of netiquette not to fill in the subject
field. The user uses the Compose function of the particular email system
included in the account and types in a text message, as one would use a word
processor to create a document.
Email should be spell checked, if it is not done so automatically, and
proof read for grammar and content before sending, unless:
- it is a trivial message, such as --" Its Lunch. Lets Eat",
- it is in the context of a non-judgmental, casual, social relationship,
- it will not become the basis for evaluating the sender's business
communication skills.
Once it is finished to the author's satisfaction, the message may sent.
In some email systems, the author can track the email to see when it was received
and when or if it was read by all recipients. This feature is becoming more
common as businesses increasingly use it to document and track employee work
habits.
Some systems allow for a priority to be set to insure that the reader gives
it the author's desired level of attention. Note: in business and in hierarchical
organizations good manners and common sense dictate that the designation
"priority" not be used unless the message is truly important.
Email can be an extremely cheap way to keep in touch with old chums, or
coordinate business groups and social organizations. Like other communication
tools, it can also be overused and become intrusive. Do not Cc: or Bcc:
people simply because it is easy to do. Always write crisply and succinctly.
If your grammar and spelling are weak, have someone review it before sending
it to a professional group. Sloppy grammar and slang will mark the writer
as careless, or worse yet, uneducated and unprofessional.
How does email work?
Email Via the Internet
|
Email Client Applications:
The email client application is any program on the user's computer that
is capable of writing email and of retrieving email from the user's email
server. Thus the email client has two basic personalities or functions.
The email sender or creation functions:
The email creation functions are:
- Creating the address book of email addresses of the user's family,
friends, and business associates. The address book may contain the full
information about the individuals including phone numbers (business, home,
fax, cell, beeper, etc.), mailing addresses, business information, and notes.
The address book also allows the grouping of the individuals into email
lists for sending news letters, reports, team schedules, etc. These lists
can make office and personal communications productive and efficient. If
they are misused, they create an overload to the email system and a waste
of valuable time.
- The composition and editing of the email content. The sub tasks
include the filling the header information: the To, CC, Bcc, and subject
fields the creating and editing the content, body, the adding of attachments
(files such as images, audio, multi media, and office documents), the adding
of signature files that contain addition information about the sender, and
finally adding any special handling instructions like reporting the receipt
and/or the time and date of the email being read.
- The adding of a digital signature (a recently approved law that
allows the adding of a digital signature that makes the email into a legal
document or contract) and the encryption of the email so that it can only
be read by the intended reader.
- Finally the sending of the email. In actual fact, this is the transmission
of the email to the creator's email server. This email server is the electronic
post office. Thus the send function is similar to the act of dropping the
letter into the mail box.
The email Receiver Client functions:
The email functions on the receiving end are:
- The handling of multiple mail boxes (the user may multiple accounts
on several different email servers). The tasks include contacting the various
servers and fetching the email. Depending on the type of server, the email
file may be kept on the server or send to the client that the user is using.
- Lists the new and/or unread mail that has been received and to sort
it by date or arrival, or sender, or priority. The listing may also present
the subject or the first part or the message.
- Provide a means of display for the email message and the attachment(s).
- Provide a means of response via a reply to the sender, or the sender
and all or some of the recipients, or forwarding it to entirely new individuals
or groups (lists).
- Provides a means of disposal either by:
- storage in a directory,
- placing in a disposal directory for deletion at the end of the session,
or
- immediate deletion
- Provide a means of filtering the email that is creating a set of
rules about what to do with email if one or more facts are true.
Email Servers:
We see from the above diagram, Email Via the Internet, that
the email server has to communicate between:
- the server's client applications and
- other email server's that it is sending email to via the Internet
- other email server's that it is receiving email from via the Internet.
The email server is an electronic version of a normal post office. We
shall describe the email server functions in two parts, the functions that
are used to process the sender and those of the recipient. There two types
of the email servers,
- the POP3 server that transfers the email to the client and,
- the IMAP that saves the email on the server.
The email post office is responsible for providing its clients with individual
postal boxes (directories) that hold the incoming email for the user and
a postal drop box to pick up the client's outgoing missives. The email server
makes the transmission of the email transparent to the user, i.e. the user
sees only the initial send and the final receipt. This again is similar
the regular mail service. We do not want to know how it happens just that
it does so in a cost efficient and timely manner. The server allows the user
to set up directories to organize the email in a file system. The email server
mail may automatically save the various emails in a Sent_Mail directory if
not the writer may want to use the Bcc: to send a copy for a file copy.
In the process we also want to feel that the postal person is not reading
our post cards. Unlike the postal serve the email server can have functions
that monitor our email. The postal worker can with, court order only,
record who is sending and receiving your letters, i.e. the information on
the outside of the envelop -- a cover check. Opening letters is another
more serious matter and is almost always requires a court order based on
a risk to national security. In general we can safely assume that
mail is not read by our government or our employers. The email server and
the Internet are not similarly prohibited at this time from any of these
procedures. More and more companies are screening email.
The Email Server Sender functions:
- Receive email from the email client that created it
- Verify that the user has privileges of sending and receiving email
through this post office. (Some ISPs allow what are called promiscuous users,
those without an account to send email.) Email found to be sent promiscuously
via through an ISP is greatly frowned upon as it is a major source of junk
email called spam. ISPs that allow such practices are now told by members
of the Internet community that their email will not be forwarded or allowed
to be received unless this practice is stopped. The threat normally effects
the desired result.
- The letter is then prepared for transmission over the Internet --
translate the email address into an IP address and a routing.
- The email is sent via Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMPT) to the
email server of the recipient.
- If the email address is not valid or the destination server is not
up, then it makes several attempts and finally reports a delivery error
back to the sender.
The Email Server Recipient functions:
- The server is responsible for receiving the client's rules for filtering
the mail, for storing these rules for the individual, and upon receiving
email acting on the rules. For instance, if the user does not want email from
another user, the rule can be if sender is XX then delete.
- Receive email from other servers and place it in the correct mailbox
(directory). If there is no such mailbox, then generate an error message
back to the sender.
- Optional -- send a recipient to the client that the message arrived
and or was read.
- The server delivers the email to the client when requested then:
- follows the filter rules,
- sorts the mail via criteria such as by date, sender, subject, etc.,
and
- deletes and otherwise manages the storage issue.
The Internet Cloud:
We use the term Internet cloud to describe the networks and local area
networks that transmit the email. Email is transmitted via (SMPT). The Internet
Cloud is the term that carries the vision of how vaguely the network is viewed
by most users. How the email is sent over this complex network is normally
of little importance. That email is delivered reliably and in a timely fashion
is sufficient for most users.
For more Details on Email Mechanics:
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) -- How does email work? http://www.ucmb.ulb.ac.be/documents/email_FAQ/email.server2.html
Email Threads
The concept of a thread is based on a simple idea. If one person writes
an email and sends it to a group, and then individuals within the group reply,
and then respond to the replies, then we say that these messages are threaded
(all based on the starting message with the thread keeping track of the
messages' sequence). Hence, if after reading the original message you are
not interested in the topic, you might delete all further messages that
are related to the original, i.e. delete the thread from your Inbox.
What is my email address?
An email address is made up of two parts: the user ID, i.e. your
account name, and the domain name, i.e. the Internet name of the computer
where your mail is sent. The two parts are separated by a @. For example,
the instructor's email address is: pkrolak@cs.uml.edu.
What can I do with email?
- Send messages to classmates and friends, family, etc.
- Reply to messages.
- Forward messages.
- Save messages.
In short, almost anything you can do with regular mail delivered by the
Post Office (called snail mail by email addicts). Email
has some shortcomings. For instance, Mom's care packages of cookies and Dad's
check or cash cannot, as yet, can be sent by email. However, as you will
learn in this lab, you can do some very exciting things. You can send a video
clip, a recording of your latest musical creation, or an enhanced picture
or graphic to your friends and family. With the newer email systems you can
also send attachments such as complete documents (MS Word or Acrobat), spreadsheets
in Excel, and presentations for class or work (such as Power Point files)
that allow you to work collaboratively with students and colleagues all
over the world.
Thoughts on managing email that is saved:
In the modern office environment it is possible to gets dozens of emails
a day. Besides developing the discipline to delete as much as possible and
to respond to the rest in a timely manner, there is still one more onerous
task -- What to save and file? The decision is sometimes made for us by
corporate policy or government edict. The what and the how maybe spelled
out in detail and all that is left is to carry it out. Assuming that there
is no formal policy, good practice would be to set up a filing system that
is well organized and the email is accurately labeled. This discipline becomes
necessary to avoid overwhelming the computer with clutter. Material that
is seldom referred to may be stored on removable disk.
Finally, any material of any value should always be backed up,
i.e. copied to a removable disk or tape and stored in a separate area to
protect it from accident, fire, or vandalism.
Spam (electronic junk mail) and how to avoid
it!
Spam is unwanted electronic junk mail and it is getting to be a major
headache. Many of the larger Internet Service Providers ISP), AOL,
MSN, etc. seem to attract Spam. These ISP have attempted to limit or control
it, but it is still a major problem Avoid giving out personal information
such as social security number, address, phone number, and email address
when it is asked for on the Web. Do not allow cookies to be set in your browser
(discussed later in term). Always ask to be removed from email lists unless
you really want the latest and greatest advertisements! Spam can use up
precious storage, bandwidth, and take up everyone's time.
Spam is a breach of good netiquette. It can sometimes cause rational users
to do some very ugly things There are those who hunt down Spammers
and destroy their Web sites and do other nasty things. These Anti-Spammers
are also violating good netiquette.
Filters -- Setting up automated rules for processing
your email
The real work in maintaining any mailbox, the real one and the email one,
is the sorting everything out:
- pitching the junk,
- putting off till later the nice to read, and
- identifying the needs and responding in a timely fashion to those
individual customers, groups, bosses at work and/or family.
Modern email systems have automated devices called filters that can be
used to read the header information and to make such decisions. For instance,
suppose you have found yourself on the mailing list from hell. It sends you
volumes of unwanted product information. The subject field of every new email
starts with: Jerks_R_Us Proudly Offers ... For such a keyword, Jerks_R_Us,
a filter can be created to take any email with that keyword in the subject
field and move it to the trash. Similarly, threads of long winded messages
entitled: " how marketing carried the day" can also can be similarly assigned
to the bit bucket (computer slang for deleted). Bcc: memos (sent to yourself
for filing of subject trip report) can be assigned to folders. Important letters
from family, and/or certain managers could be sent to an Open_First_Email
Folder. All the above filters can be set up with a few keystrokes.
Some professor's email systems use the Subject: field to route the emailed
online exams to a grading program that then sends it on to be recorded in
course database.
Signature Files
Signature files let the email author expand his or her personal information
within the email message. Items like business, mobile, and fax phone numbers,
business address and billing address, etc. are frequently added. A witty
remark or a wise saying are also sometimes added, but these may get old after
receiving them the second or third time.
Personal Cards
Netscape has popularized "Personal Cards" or "vcards" that act like a
business card. Users fill in their personal business data, i.e. business,
mobile, and fax phone, etc. in the preferences section and then send it with
email messages. When a recipient wants to add the sender's information to
his or her address book he or she just clicks on it and it is added to the
address book. No muss, no fuss.
Netiquette -- Good manners that your mother taught
you work in email
Typing as a means of communication can lead to misunderstandings, so email,
newsgroups, chat and other forms of 'Net-based' social discourse have developed:
- Emoticons -- Smiley icons and other clever icons made up of
typed characters, e.g
- : ) for happy or : (
for sad.
- Emoticons are sometimes added to clarify the user's emotion, tone
of voice, or intent. There exist huge libraries of such icons.
A Few Common Emoticons
| Emoticon |
Meaning |
| : ) |
Happy or Similey |
| ; ) |
Wink |
| : O |
Surprise |
|
: o)X
|
Happy Geek
|
|
:' )
|
Laughed till I cried!
|
|
:" (
|
Very Sad or Crying
|
|
: (
|
Sad
|
- Abbreviations are also very common in email for family, friends,
and informal business. They are also widely used in newsgroups, chat, and
other Internet communications that use typed messages.
A Partial List of Abbreviation Used in Internet Communications
| Abbreviation |
Meaning |
| BRB |
Be Right Back |
| CBB |
Can't be bothered -- Not interested or not worth considering. |
| ETA |
Expected Time of Arrival |
| FYI |
For Your Information |
| LOL |
Laughing Out Load |
| RGRDS |
Regards |
| ROFL |
Rolling On the Floor Laughing |
| RTFM |
Read The F@*%*** Manual. A rude remark that is used when a
new member asks too many questions. Avoid using! |
| ZZZ |
Boring --You are putting me to sleep. |
- For an extensive list of emoticons and abbreviations, see : http://www.thirdage.com/features/tech/netglos/
- Another extensive list of abbreviations used by almost all veteran
emailers and chat members.
http://www.chatlist.com/newcfdocs/searchacro.cfm
- Rules for Netiquette
A Guide to Writing and Using Email Effectively
Treating email simply as a faster form of the ubiquitous postal letter
is a dangerous mistake. Email is rapidly being adopted by society and business,
but the user should be careful to understand this phenomena as a new and
different form of communication. While this lesson includes a tutorial on
an email program to illustrate the features of a typical software product,
it is important to examine the issues of how, when, and why to use email.
The student should read and understand the material found at:
before going on to the next section.
II. Introduction to specific email systems:
In the academic world we celebrate diversity and support it even in our
approach to email. The campus supports the following email systems cited below
(each is linked to an introductory tutorial):
Eudora
Mulberry
MS Outlook
Tutorial (Milsap University)
Netscape's own Messenger tutorial: http://home.netscape.com/support/books/netcenter/044000112.htm
Pine
For reasons that only academic institutions in their own arcane way understand,
the chosen email system often is a program called Mulberry. Mulberry, based
in English culture, is a products of the University of Cambridge,
and as the old saw goes
England and America are two countries separated by a common
language.
(source Winston Churchill)
The business world is similarly devoted to a diverse array of email products
and each has its zealot followers. Microsoft, with its Outlook dominates
for business reasons almost as arcane as the academic choices. The Unix world
loves Pine and Macintosh users line up behind Eudora.
In a nod to consensus, the course will assume that our email system will
be Netscape's Messenger. The reasons for selecting Netscape Messenger are
as follows:
- Netscape's Communicator is still a leading browser.
- It is the only email system commonly found on all the major operating
systems.
- It is full featured with excellent tools for home, office, and remote
use, and
- It is free to students and fully integrated with the other Netscape
Communicator tools.
The choice of the email system may seem strange in light of the fact that
Intralearn also offers many free web email sites. To do all of the Exercises
in this course the student is strongly advised to use Messenger.
"A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little Minds"
Emerson in The American Scholar
With due apologies to experienced users, please read the following tutorial
carefully. Almost all successful email systems contain similar features but
differ in the Computer Human Interface (CHI).
Using Netscape Messenger -- an Example of a Modern
Business Email Client:
Orange Message Areas Are for Important Hints or Remarks
| Using Netscape's Messenger as an example, we will illustrate how a typical
email system is used, when it is used, and why it is used in a modern business
setting and for social interactions. The specifics are only for those readers
that are using Mulberry for their main email system. |
Getting started -- Setting up Messenger
| Setting Netscape Preferences for email: |
| Pre-Req: Go to your Internet Provider Member
Services page or Support or Tech Center and search for "email setup."
Find the incoming and outgoing server names. For example the servers
for Earthlink are:
IN = pop.earthlink.net
OUT = smtp.earthlink.net
Not every provider offers POP/Imap email. You cannot set
Netscape Messenger to receive Internet based email such as Hotmail or Yahoo
mail.
Internet based email does allow the user to change preferences, make attachments,
create an address book and address lists.
|
| 1. |
From the menu bar select Edit > Preferences |
|
|
| 2. |
Expand the Mail & Newsgroups category by clicking on the + (plus
sign) |
|
|
| 3. |
Click on the Identity category. The right side of the box will
change. Fill in the text box with correct information. Don't
click ok yet. Next click the Mail Servers category from the category
list on the left. |
|
|
| 4. |
On the right side of the box near the middle-- the section called
Outgoing Mail Server-- fill in with correct information. Don't click
ok yet. If there is a mail server listed in the Incoming Mail Servers
section (top right)... highlight server by clicking on it and press delete
button. When the window is empty click the Add button. |
|
|
| 5. |
A second dialog box will appear over the first one. Fill it
in with the correct information. Click ok on the this box. |
|
|
| 6. |
The preferences dialog box should now list the safety.com server.
Now click ok. Your preferences have been set to send and
receive mail through netscape. (the difference between POP and IMAP
-- pop delivers the mail to you on your pc. once its downloaded it
is no longer on the server. imap keeps the mail on the server and you
view/disposition it from there.-- pop is the easiest way to handle mail.)
... Now you can choose Communicator > Messenger from the menu bar and use
your mail. |
|
|
This section created Elsie Wheeler. Used with permission.
Setting up an address book
The addressbook is a critical component of any email client. Email client's
need to keep track of the email addesses of the user's family, friends, and
business associates as these are not often found in easy to use email directories.
While some universities and corporations have such directories there is no
equilvalent to the world's telephone books. In fact, many people do not want
the public to have an easy to access their email address. So one must acquire
email addresses by:
- asking for them,
- getting them off of the emails that are sent to you, and
- using Email searches and directories that may or may not provide email
addresses.
- Email address books can be improted and exported from one computer
e.g importing the one at your work to your one at home. The process
is called synchronization, -- making one computer have the same information
as the other. With the advent of Personal Digital Assitants (PDAs) and other
wireless email devices the need to sync addressbooks is becoming sommon place.
- Further, many email clients such as MS Outlook, are beong expanded
to become office assistants -- creating a contact list that contains all
the methods of contacting the individual - mail, phone(s) & fax, IM,
Web URL, etc. Information such as persoanl and business relationships and
notes are also part of this data. The addressbook (contacts) becomes part
of scheduling, reminder, and other office applications.
Recording, Deleting, and Editing the Email Addresses
of Individuals
When creating a new address book, start with the individuals. Click on the
Single icon or button--
A window will open directly below the menu bar. Click on the New icon and
a dialog box will appear. Fill in the fields with the requested information.
If you do not know the person's email address, mailing address, or phone number,
you can look many of the items up using the Internet's search engines and
other tools (see for example Exercise
4).
To get started:
Click [Communicator]/Addressbook or [Ctrl+Shift+2]
The Addressbook Dialog Box
|
Addressbook Operations:
Addressbook Operations for individuals
| Creating or Adding a New Individual Addressbook Entry |
Process |
Creating or Adding a new individual
Starting from scratch:
- Email address gotten by asking, business card or other correspondence,
- Using corporate or university addressbooks
- Using web based email search sites.
|
Click on [NewCard]
A dialog box will appear that will ask for the individual's information. Note
this can be as simple as name & email address or can include mai address,
phone contact information, and information about business and personal relationships.
Click [OK] when finished. |
| Capturing email addresses from the email you recieve. |
Use the Right Mouse Button (RMB) and click on the email of the sender
or CC: email addresseses. Select Add sender or Add All to contacts. The addressbook
will bring up each individual to be added. Note that the information may
have to be modified or expanded to include |
| Capturing email address and other informaztion from signature cards |
|
|
|
Addressbook Operations for individuals
| Modification of Addressbook Entry |
Process |
| Select the individual by in filling the Names containing text field and
selecting the correct individual -- Use Right Mouse Button and slect properties |
Once the individual's information dialog box appears make the additions
and corrections.
Click [OK]. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Addressbook Operations for individuals
| Deleting an Addressbook entry |
Process |
| Select the individual name to be deleted from the addressbook by clicking
on the name. |
Click [Delete] |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Creating, Deleting, and Editing Email Lists (i.e.
Email Lists of Individuals)
Once you have created a list of all the individuals, you can begin to think
of effective ways to send email to a group, such as your family, your soccer
team, your club. Click [Communicator]/Addressbook or [Ctrl+Shift+2]
(if the addressbook dialog is not open). Click the [New List] button 
and a dialog window will appear. You should have two windows open -- the
addressbook and list dialog boxes.
Creating an Email List
| Steps |
Dialog box |
| Fill in the requested information about the group such as name, etc. |
|
| From the list of individuals in the Addressbook dialog window, select
the first person to be entered. Place the mouse over the individual's name
and drag the name into the membership window. Repeat until all the members
of the group have been put on the list. |
|
|
|
After the group has been created, the group-list icon will appear in the
addressbook window. Note that an arrow appears to the left of the group's
icon. If you want to see the list of members, click on icon and the group
membership appears.
Composing email:
Click the New Msg button, 
. This will bring up the draft window (below). The draft is a two step
operation:
- The head of the email -- select fron the addressbook the individuals
and lists that make up the To:, Cc:, and Bcc lists. Fill in the Subject
field. Select the Priority selector to determine the urgency that
the reader should give to the email.
- The Body of the email can be either HTML ( using the tool bar between
the head and the body) or pure text. Not all email client readers can create
or read HTML.
A draft window
- write and edit the message
- address the to:, Cc:, bcc:, and subject fields
- spell check, i.e. Click the [Spelling], examine for clarity and
grammar
- things to think about: netiquette, legal issues, privacy
- Add attachments -- Click the
icon for each attachment.
- Decide Security -- Click the [Security] to encrypt the email.
- send -- Click [Send].
Adding Attachments:
What is MIME?
MIME (Multiple Internet Mail Extension) allows the email system to attach
files (packages of data or programs) to an email message. Since your email
is a text file, adding non-text data or programs can only be achieved by
adding a text message that tells the email client that a MIME file is being
attached. The MIME file has a name determined by its creator and an extension
that tells the email system its type. The extension is made up of a "." followed
by a standard abbreviation made up of three or more characters e.g. "test.doc"
would be a file named "test" that was created by MS Word, which uses the
".doc" extension.
Why should I be concerned?
The ability to attach one or more files to a email message allows us to
work in a highly collaborative fashion. For instance, you could take all the
laboratory data that you took down in a Biology Lab put it in an Excel spreadsheet,
and the write up in Word and send these as two files to your lab partner.
The partner could then: 1) correct the data and the write up, 2) create a
Power Point presentation of the findings, 3) attach the presentation to the
original message, and reply asking for your final corrections and comments.
When you both were satisfied that the report was perfect you could then forward
it to the lab assistant for a grade.
How do I attach MIME documents to my email?
After creating an email message, click the Attach button to attach the
file (in many email systems the Attach button is an icon of a paper clip).
After you find the document in the directory, click on the desired file
and click on the Open button. After clicking on the Open button, Messenger
will return you to the message. Messenger will place the file in the head's
of list of attachments in the lists section.. Clicking on the Attachment
icon to open or save it to a file. The attachment can be:
- A file
- A web page -- Use the URL of the page
- A personal (vCArd)
Special Actions or Handling:
The writer may have some special needs such as:
- Getting a receipt from the person that they have received the email.
- Adding a digital signature that will authenticate that the sender
used the correct private key.
- Encrypting message to ensure privacy.
To access these features click on the special action icon.
Getting a Receipt:
Click the special actions icon and then check the Return Receipt
Sending Secure Email:
Signature Files:
Signature files let the email author expand his or her personal information
within the email message. Items like business, mobile, and fax phone numbers,
business address and billing address, etc. are frequently added. A witty
remark or a wise saying are also sometimes added, but these may get old after
receiving them the second or third time.
Create the Signature file:
Open the Wordpad program or any text editor that you are comfortable with.
Using the editor create whatever information that you feel are import for
readers of your emails to know. Note a business email address being used
by a salesperson may contain a great deal more information than your email
used for social or personal correspondence. Save the file as a text document.
Click [Edit]/Prefences/Mail & Newsgroups/Identity. The following
dialog box will appear. Click [Choose ..] and open the signature file created
the Wordpad editor.
Personal Cards:
Netscape has popularized "Personal Cards" or "vcards" that act like a
business card. Users fill in their personal business data, i.e. business,
mobile, and fax phone, etc. in the preferences section and then send it with
email messages. When a recipient wants to add the sender's information to
his or her address book he or she just clicks on it and it is added to the
address book. No muss, no fuss.
To add a personal card (vcard) open the Identity dialog box as in the Signature
File, i.e. Click [Edit]/Prefences/Mail & Newsgroups/Identity.
Check Attach my personal card to message [as a vCard]. A dialog box will
as you to create a new card. Fill in the resulting dialog box. If a box
exits Click [Edit Card.. ].
Again fill in the information only if they are absolutely needed for your
business.
Receiving email
When we receive mail, it is placed in the Inbox file. Clicking on the
Inbox icon lists all new and unread mail. If the email window has be open
or to start the email, Click [Get Msg] 
. See the figure below:
The Mailbox Window
First decision -- what to read or trash?
The Inbox holds all the new and any other unread mail. Upon opening the
Inbox, the mail is displayed in some sorted sequence. Normally, the mail is
sorted by date, with the most recent at the top of the list. If a user receives
many emails per day, he or she must ration the amount of time spent reading
and replying to email. Hence, the decision to read or to delete is made based
on subject, sender, and priority. In the Mulberry system, email is marked
for deletion. Deletion is like throwing something in the trash basket. Until
the trash is emptied it can be retrieved. The message can be Expunged (delete
so that its gone forever). When one exits Messenger, the deletion becomes
expunged automatically, i.e. the trash basket is emptied. Clicking on the
desired item highlights it; to delete it, click the delete button.
Second decision -- How to respond?
- Delete -- Hit the [Delete] button to place the message in the trash.
- Forward -- Hit the [Forward] button to send the mail on to someone
who was not on the distribution list. The option of forwarding the mail
to others should always be kept in mind. Because the mail can be forwarded
without your permission or knowledge, use great care in sending any email
that might be seen as harmful, hateful, or reflecting badly on your
character, professionalism, or judgment.
- Reply -- Hit the [Reply] button to send a reply. A dialog box will
appear. Once the list of recipients is complete, a dialog box for creating
the reply appears. At the top of the original message, type the response.
After proofreading it and considering the response of on the recipients
of your reply, hit the Send button. Before replying to any email, ask yourself
whether any acknowledgment is necessary. It's not always necessary, and can
be quite irritating to fill some one's email Inbox with trivial responses.
- Reply All -- Hit the {Reply All] button to respond to all the individuals
on the To: and Cc: lists on the original message. The process is the same
as a reply.
- Save -- [File]/SaveAs and decide which directory and file name to
associate with the message.
- Take action (non email operation) -- in the sense of doing what
is requested by the author. Call your mother, send money, etc.
Reading the Email:
First select the email to open, Click on the email item and it will appear
in the Message Window.
The Message Window
(Our message, Sample Email contained:
a message, a signature file, a web page, a file -- an emailModel.gif,
and a personal card)
Note that the Message window tells who besides the reader received the
message; the To: and the Cc: lists. Also note: the Bcc: field does not appear,
so it is impossible to know who may also have received copies. The author
of the message appears in the From: field, and the subject and date it was
sent are also displayed. Not to fill in the subject field is poor netiquette
-- a lack of common courtesy to the reader who must decide how to dispose
of your message.
Our Email also had an attached web page whose URL is http://www.cs.uml.edu/~pkrolak/lab1/Sample.html
Netscape displays attached HTML (web pages) inline. Which if we scroll down
the message window will appear as:
Our Sample Email also had an attached personal (vCard) that appears as
the last part of the :
The [View Complete Card] button will expand the card to provide full addresses,
phone, and other business data in the personal card.
The [Add to Address Book] is to make it easy for your customer or colleague
to add you to their address book.
How do I detach and read/ view/ listen/ etc.
to the attachments?
If there is an attachment, i.e. a paper clip icon
. The icon tells us the message contains one or or more additional files
called "attachments." Click on the icon at any time to find the various items
that the author attached to the original message. Upon clicking on the icon
the email opens up a windows that indicates the attached files:
In some mail systems the attachments are indicated as icons that tell the
reader the attachments' name and type. In the Sample Email there were three
attached files: 1) the EMailModel.gif, 2) the Sample.html web page, 3) the
pkrolak vCard. In any case, after the icons are displayed, the reader can
click on the individual icon (file) to hear, see, and display the contents
of the various attachments (see section on MIME). The
user may get a message asking whether to save the attachment or to open it.
On MS email clients such as Outlook opening any attachment that has an
extension of ".exe" or other script containing file, may contain a
computer virus or worm that will immediately cause harm. Make sure your preferences
are set to ask before opening the file. Opening can be very costly. Even
with an anti-virus program this type of file cannot be guaranteed to be safe
and hence to prevent a new virus from doing damage. Remember to not set your
preferences to not automatically files to avoid this risk.
Additional Features of the Messenger Email Client:
Folders:
Folders allow the user to organize and store correspondence. User's normally
have a sent folder for creating a copy of their correspondence, a draft
folder for those emails that require some careful time and thought, and
folders for immediate action, etc.
Useful Messenger Email Folder Operators
| Operation |
Action |
| Creating Folders: |
Click [File]New Folder |
| Delete Folder |
Using Right Mouse Button -- Click on Folder to be deleted.
From popup window select -- Delete Folder |
| Compact Folder |
Using Right Mouse Button -- Click on Folder to be deleted.
From popup window select -- Compact Folder |
| Rename Folder |
Using Right Mouse Button -- Click on Folder to be deleted.
From popup window select -- Rename Folder |
How to use effectively:
Suppose you have an email that requires immediate attention as you scan
the emails that are currently unread from your list of many. You click on
the email and drag and drop it into your "Read Immediate" folder. After you
have scanned the list. click on the "Read Immediate" folder. Its contents
will appear in your Mailbox window, begin reading in order of al or importance.
Filters -- Setting up automated rules for processing
your email
The real work in maintaining any mailbox, the real one and the email one,
is the sorting everything out:
The Email Receiver's Triage
- pitching the junk,
- putting off till later the nice to read, and
- identifying the needs and responding in a timely fashion to those
individual customers, groups, bosses at work and/or family.
|
Modern email systems have automated devices called filters that can be
used to read the header information and to make such decisions. For instance,
suppose you have found yourself on the mailing list from hell. It sends
you volumes of unwanted product information. The subject field of every
new email starts with: Jerks_R_Us Proudly Offers ... For such a keyword,
Jerks_R_Us, a filter can be created to take any email with that keyword
in the subject field and move it to the trash. Similarly, threads of long
winded messages entitled: " how marketing carried the day" can also can
be similarly assigned to the bit bucket (computer slang for deleted). Bcc:
memos (sent to yourself for filing of subject trip report) can be assigned
to folders. Important letters from family, and/or certain managers could
be sent to an Open_First_Email Folder. All the above filters can be
set up with a few keystrokes. Some professor's email systems use the Subject:
field to route online exams to a grading program that then sends it on to
be recorded in course database.
Security:
Sort:
The email can be sorted by a number of different items found in the header,
i.e. the name, date of arrival, priority, subject. The data field that is
controlling the sort is denoted with a carrot or arrow in the data field
name row directly above the email. To change sort by a different field double
click on the new data field name. This will cause the email to be sorted
by the selected data field. To reverse the sort order, i.e. from most recent
to oldest email to oldest to most recent, double click on the carrot.
Note in the figure below the carrot (arrow) is in the Date field and the
email is sorted by most recent to oldest.
Threads:
III. Web based Email:
The advent of web mail:
Email originally required you to have an Internet Service Provider (ISP)
if you had a dial up connection to the Internet or an account on your Local
Area Network (LAN), such as an educational institution or company, that had
email privileges. The need for having at least one and many times several
email accounts has been growing. Further, the reasons for having an email
address that is not on your current employer's POP3 post office is readily
apparent if you are negotiating for your next position. If you are frequently:
- trying new software products or
- downloading passwords, or
- otherwise required to have an account for convenient or an alias
that could be easily closed if it became a spam haven, attracted the wrong
cyber date, or any one of a hundred of reasons, then most people get a web
mail account. A web mail account is an email account that is provided by
web hosting companies normally for free. These web mail accounts give you
an email address that can be accessed from anywhere on the Internet and requires
no special software program to support it. Most of these web mail accounts
offer a sophisticated user interface and functionality. Microsoft 's Hotmail,
ATT Broadband, Yahoo, and Netscape all offer web mail. They do this as part
of their strategy to attract repeat visitor to the site's they host. These
sites are called portals -- one stop shopping, full communication
service (chat, newsgroups, email, etc.), information services (white pages,
yellow pages, maps, travel and ticket information, etc.). These social and
business services are sometimes referred to as a community.
In short, a portal, as used in the web hosting sense, is a place that the
viewer can come and get what they are looking for without having to use a
search engine. If a search engine is needed, they will use one that is designed
to exploit their group of sponsors and advertisers. The web host provides
all these goodies to the visitor for free in order to get an addicted loyal
(branding) and large visitor base. The web host then sells your eye balls,
looks, views to an advertiser who wants to have you visit their site directly
from the portal.
Some argue web mail is inherently more insecure
than email:
Because the email is held on the application provider's web server and
not as a mail server that it is easier to attack using well understood flaws
in web site technology.
What is in an email address?
A rose by any other name, would smell as sweet
Wm. Shakespeare
What is in an web mail address? In an article, Email Address May
be Sending the Wrong Message, by Patrica Wen, Boston Globe Tuesday,
(Feb. 1, 2000, pages A1 and B6) raises the issue that -- you are what your
email address says you are. The article interviewed many people and asked
them what they thought a fictional person's email address said about the person.
Microsoft's Hotmail evoked images of illicit mail, i.e. hijacked email, was
one of the more silly responses. Some people thought that those that used
free email sites were sophisticated and frugal, others saw them as
cheap. The article also cited a real case of young man who was told
by a corporate executive, that his choice of email provider, Hotmail, reflected
poorly on him and not to use it if he wanted a job. Again this seems to be
an over the top reaction as a reason to reject an applicant. A web mail address
does not mean that you are a rootless drifter. Thus the email address seems
to say things about us to various people, but who knows what
or why.
Choosing an web mail address that can follow you your whole life
should be a rational act. The best advice is to chose an email
provider carefully in terms of the services you need. In setting up the account
be careful in your choice of email name or handle. What is cute at 16 maybe
send the wrong impression later on. Even if you change email providers some
databases retain the information forever. Who wants to be 2cute4u@teen.com
at age twenty-five?
Before signing up for the web mail read the fine
print:
Where there is smoke,
there is fire.
Old Saying
The license, that is required to be signed before you get you email account
from any source, is a legal document and sometimes contains some unpleasant
surprises. What does it say about your right to privacy, resale of your affiliations,
addressbook, your correspondence? Can they screen your email for content
for any reason? Can they delete or save it without your permission. These
issues are not covered by a standard uniform code of business practices.
The following rumor while false should give the reader pause -- A false rumor claimed AOL allows key executives
to examine the contents of your hard drive. It was reported on the web and
discussed in chat before AOL proved it unfounded. This kind of rumor is
one of the so called "Urban Myths"
that makes the rounds every so many years. But one is reminded to always
read the license and other information that you are accepting to use a company's
programs or service. Buried in the small print you maybe granting all sorts
of privileges to your data, personal information, and your web habits. Read
the license before you sign.
IV. The Dark Side of the Email Communications:
The wide spread use of email has provide both the individual and the organization
with many positive benefits and has shrunk the world. However, no good things
comes for free. Email comes with many drawbacks some of which are derived
from the immediacy of the communication form. Other drawbacks come about
the vulnerability of the receiving email over something as open and uncontrolled
as the Internet.
A Note of Caution
An Officer advances by day
by burning the letters he writes by night
Reef Points -- U.S. Naval Academy Plebe's Handbook (1959)
When composing any email, the temptation to respond immediately and with
passion results in intemperate email called "flames". The above quote is
saying that an officer (or any one with good manners) always reflects on a
memo, document, or an email before sending a reply in haste.
I am reminded of a tragic story of a person who sent an angry email following
a letter rejecting him for employment, accusing the potential employer of
being too stupid to appreciate the sender's talents. The recipient of
the email belonged to an organization of almost all potential employers
in the sender's field, and simply forwarded the message to a list of its
members.
The act of using the Internet with professionalism and good manners is
what netiquette is all about.
Email privacy and security
The email user should be aware that the privacy and security of the U.S.
Mail does not extend to email. Your Internet Service Provider (ISP), or the
administrator of your Local Area Network (LAN) all may legally read and may
in fact own the email you created. The government records its email and may
archive even deleted messages. As in the prior warning, email can be forwarded
without your permission. Email cannot be used to send threats, harassment,
or child pornography. The use of email for such acts may be against university
rules, state or federal laws, or at the very least may constitute boorish
behavior. As a golden rule, send nothing through email that you would not
want published. If the message is truly private and confidential, then encrypt
it so only the intended recipients can read it. In the future, a special
message called a digital signature may be affixed to the message to guarantee
that it was sent by the person who supposedly sent it. It will become like
a signature on a check and will constitute a legal document.
Internet or Cyber Terrorism:
Increasingly the Internet is a target for cyber terrorism and in the furture
cyber warfare. The Internet is a vital information infrastructure for the
global economy and social order. It distruction, disruption, and/or lack
of faith in its information would have serious consequences. Because the
Internet is such an open and free structure it has become an attractive
target for thrill seekers and terrorists of all stripes. Some of the most
common manifestations of this new age terror is through email and other
Internet communiations.
Trojan Horse:
A Trojan horse is program that seems desirable to bring into the user's
environment but has a hidden piece of code.Hence the name. This often a game
or other program found on the web. This hidden code carries out some action
on the user's computer that can range from harmless messages appearing on
your screen to the serious as in the destruction of user files, erasing the
disks, etc.
Virus:
A virus or more accurately a computer virus, a program that is introduced
into a user's computer from an outside source that can provide an unwanted
result. The resulting program's output can be something simple like a message
on the screen, modification of file(s), deletion and destruction of files
and other storage elements, and even the physical destruction of the hardware
(very rare). The virus can also launch other copies of itself via the Internet
that can overload the network, infect other machines, and otherwise propagate,
i.e. a worm. The virus can also pass information back to the creator that
it found on the infected computer such as passwords, confidential materials,
and can pose a major threat to those who do online banking and finances.
Worm:
A worm is program or code fragment that rapidly replicates and sends
messages over a network. The messages can grow in exponential fashion to
create a denial of service by flooding with the network with useless messages.
It can also distroy or damage the computer it is hosted on.
Recently, email has been used to cause users, networks, and corporations
a range problems:
- computer viruses,
- deletion of data,
- breaches of security,
- denial of service, etc.
To protect your email, computer and its data, and your organization:
- Always backup your important email data,
- Use an anti viral program and keep it up to date,
- Check with your email program developer for the latest bug
fixes, and
- Be cautious of email that asks you to set your machine up
in unusual ways, use Microsoft Office macros, etc.
Sending Private email (Encryption):
The following is the procedure for using Netscape's Secure Socket Layer
to send and receive secure email.
http://developer.netscape.com/docs/manuals/security/sslin/contents.htm
http://www.mutemail.com/index.html
For more insight
to email safety
Email Virus:
A computer virus is a small program or piece of code attached to a file
or program that is executed whenever the carrier program is executed. A virus
is created to act and or look like a harmless file or program. The user
can bring the virus into the computer by accessing the Internet most commonly
as an email attachment, or through removable disks or other storage media
used on public sites such as those of a university computer, or by duping
the user to activate the code. Virus code can do many things ranging from
the simple to very costly damages:
- Cause an annoying message or image to appear at a specific time or
event
- Attach itself to all other files or programs on a disk and replicating
itself every time an infected program is executed until the disk become full
- Cause the computer to search the files on its disk and to report
their contents to another computer
- Erase the disks of a computer. In some rare cases actually destroy
the computer hardware. One computer company had an e-prom (erasable prom
which is a computer chip that can have its logic burned into it when it is
created) the chip allowed the computer to change from one foreign language
to another but was set to self destruct after a preset number of language
changes. An email was circulated around the company with an attachment labeled,"
Do not read this message -- confidential". Of course it proved too much
of a temptation and the program exercised the e-prom to destruction and not
only destroyed the chip but also caused the computer's motherboard to fail..
- Cause what is called a denial of service attack. The virus replicates
itself over and over through out the network until it is the only traffic
on the network. This has happened more than one time to the Internet. In
one case it was a programming bug where two people had what is called a vacation
message program that fired off a message to the sender that the recipient
was on vacation and when the recipient would return. The bug caused due to
a programming error several copies to be sent back to the sender. Which would
not have been a big deal except the programmers friends all had the same
program. They fired off a last message an all went on vacation. The messages
multiplied like Fibonacci's rabbits and soon the Internet was overcome with
the copies of the vacation messages firing off more and more copies to each
other.
Background Note
Fibonacci was the mathematician that created the Fibonacci numbers,
i.e.
F1= 1, F2= 1, Fn= Fn-1 + Fn-2
; for all integer n> 2. |
Technically email is only an ASCII text document and the email client can
only display the text so it can not cause any mischief. The trouble is normally
in the attachments. Somewhere in the attachment a piece of code is added
to the original document. For instance, a macro embedded in a Microsoft Office
document. Every time the document is opened the macro is activated to do
some action. In the case study below the macro opened the addressbook, erased
files, mailed copies of itself to 50 people from the addressbook and hence
rapidly spread itself over the Internet.
It should be noted that email systems are now allowing not only text documents
but also HTML. This simple addition of HTML opens the door for attacks through
JAVA, and JavaScript or other scripting languages that the email client/browser
might support.
A specific example -- The Melissa Virus
Melissa was no lady. It derives its name from a woman who worked at a
strip bar that Melissa's author frequented. The message was harmless looking.
The reader was invited to open an attachment that contained the URLs of pornographic
sites on the web. The email looked like it came from a friend, or coworker,
or family member and probably seemed like strange reading in most cases.
If the reader ignored the attachments contents and went about their business,
sooner or later they would get a perplexed call from coworkers or family
asking, "Why did you send me this filth?". Mellissa had struck. Melissa,
using the reader's Outlook mail system and the reader's addressbook, would
among other actions send 50 more copies of the original email. At the
speed of the Internet soon thousands then millions of copies were being sent.
Whole corporate networks were forced to shut down due to the traffic overload.
If the network was not yet infected, many network administrators shut down
the LAN's Internet connection to prevent becoming infected until a cure was
found.
Melissa worked by adding a Visual Basic macro to the word document that
was activated when the user opened the attachment. Denying the opening
the macro when MS Word asks for permission to use it will stop the macro
from modifying or attacking the user's data or programs. Many sites have already
turned off the check and many users ignore the warning and allow the macro
to activate. The macro in Melissa read the Outlook addressbook and created
personalized and sent email to the first 50 people it found. The program
also loaded quotes from the TV show the "Simpsons" into open Word documents.
The nation and the Internet was not without resources to fight back. As
soon as Mellissa was detected as a problem, messages were sent to agencies
and volunteer groups at the national and international level. Systems administrator's
began warning users not to open strange email and to test every attachment
with anti virus programs. Some systems administrators simply shut down outside
traffic.
Soon, the virus trackers, like their microbe counterparts, joined the hunt
for the source. The Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) is set up to
report the nature of the virus and coordinate a response to the treat.
The Internet newsgroups crackled with rumor and finally clues. For any software
type, what followed was as exciting to follow as a le Carre novel.
A surprising and unpleasant discovery -- Microsoft
strikes again, a false clue and our privacy violated
The hunt took a strange turn when it was found out that the Melissa had
a GUIDE similar to one found on the site of a notorious virus author, VicodinES.
The world said -- a GUIDE? Then it was revealed that Microsoft had created
a Global id that identifies the particular machine and Microsoft program
(license) that creates every word document.. So much for writing an anonymous
letter to the editor or to your boss!! It turned out that the GUIDE is only
written to the document file once at the time it is created. Hence, it might
tell us about the source document but not about later more devious editing.
Concerned about GUIDE and similar markers or tags
| Disturbed by the dialog about Microsoft's clever little GUIDE? If
you know its there, then simply replace it with one belonging to one of
the usual suspects. Not very nice but as long as the creators treat the customer's
privacy so cavalierly then the creators deserve some of the credit. |
Ultimately VicodinES was found not responsible, the real author used a
prior VicodinES document as a red herring to draw suspicion away from himself.
The culprit was tracked down as much by a little luck and many people using
Internet coordination through chat and newsgroups to generate ideas and
clues, and finally careful tracking by AOL using web site auditing tools.
Why is denial of service dangerous and so costly?
Melissa and similar viruses are designed to provide a denial of service
attack on a corporation, ISP, or government network and as such can produce
tremendous damage and huge costs. A few years ago studies showed that a corporation
that lost its network for a week had a significant chance of going bankrupt.
The point is, while the cost of closing down a network and the resulting
cost of clean up in labor, lost development, and restart are significant;
but they are often dwarfed by the opportunity cost of lost revenue, good
will, public relations, and in some cases lives put at risk.
The 911 system, the FAA's air traffic control, health care systems are
often are more vulnerable and have more to lose through denial of service
attacks than loss of secret information. A few years ago a teenager attempting
to gain access to the telephone system gained access to a local switching
computer and accidentally crashed the computer. The telephone area of service
included the local airport, the FAA radio circuits, and the 911 system. While
this was not a denial of service through flooding the network with bogus
messages, it crash the network. The networks that support landing and air
traffic at the airport as well as any emergency that would have been needed
for a response. Fortunately the skill and knowledge of the various professionals
involved were able to safely restore order. The lesson here may seem muddy,
the failure was at the telephone network but the hacker was attacking it
through the Internet. The hacker has no way of knowing what is the effect
on the cloud of networks. Even systems designed to be private networks are
seen in this complex world to be coupled to the Internet in unexpected ways.
The next generation -- mutation and smarter bugs:
The nature of hunting down and stopping the virus is not without its unwanted
side effects. The virus is often examined and analyzed in public forums and
chats and the nature of how it worked is reported on. When the virus's author
is hunted and caught, it is a major news event that adds to the appearance
of excitement and glamor surrounding the culprit. This in turn, inspires
copy cats. These copycats make small changes and otherwise mutate the virus
code to fool the anti- virus programs. Sometimes either knowingly or through
unexpected program bugs the virus becomes even more damaging than the original.
Thus software mimics biology.
Deadly 'Melissa' copycat virus can bring down networks By Ann Harridan,
http://www.computerworld.com/cwi/story/0,1199,NAV47_STO27595,00.html
Prevention and Cures for computer viruses:
The following is a few common sense things to keep in mind and to practice
to prevent loss to computer viruses:
- Don't use disks that yourself have not created or have used on machines
other that your own. Computer labs in libraries and other public places are
not to be trusted. Before using disks used on public computers make sure
your critical material on your personal computer is backed up and then scan
the disks with an anti virus program before using them on the computer.
- Anti virus programs are cheap relative to the potential for the
loss of time and effort to reconstruct your computer and your company's
data. Remember, anti virus programs are only so good -- they are based on
finding known viruses. This is like getting last year's flu shot for this
year's flu. Always check a new disk, an email attachment, or a new ftp download
(transfer of data or program off the Internet to your machine) with an anti
virus program.
- A corollary to the above rule is that the anti virus program must
be constantly updated to prevent the new viruses. Most vendors supply a
timely update of their algorithms.
- Be suspicious of any one who asks you to set up your machine in
an unusual or complicated manner that you are not familiar with.
- If in doubt, keep it out. While it defeats much of the benefit and
excitement of surfing the net, governments and businesses are not
there to entertain you.
- Backup all important files and keep them in separate locations to
prevent loss through fire, theft, etc. as well as computer virus.
- As a last resort shut down the connection to the Internet and cleanse
the local system with a disinfectant program if one exists for the particular
virus..
The Corporate Fortress Mentality:
From the early days of computing, large corporation have had a suspicion,
dislike, even fear of computing and those who professed to be programmers.
Even as they tried to press the advantages of their own automation and productivity
advantages over weaker and smaller competition they never fully integrated
the computer geek into the cooperate team. This went so far as to have unofficial
policies like:
If you find the indispensable programmer, fire him or her and
hire a hundred others who aren't.
Rumored business policy of computer companies in the 50's
This was only common sense, these executives said, because what if the
indispensable programmer got hit by a bus. The real fear was that if
the programmer was so clever as to be indispensable then he feared not the
executive or did not play nice in the corporate sandbox. There were corporate
myths similar to the so called urban myths. How would you know if there were
not little bits of code that were deleting fractions of a cent from one account
and placing them in a secret account that only the programmer controlled?
The facts. would only surface when the programmer retired to some nation with
white sand beaches and no extradition. This is slowly changing as the twenty
something programmers create Billion dollar corporations overnight in what
is called the new economy.
Under the heading -- even paranoids can have real enemies, with the business
and government phase of the Internet now comes the cyber terrorist, the
anti-establishment hacker, the industrial espionage spy and international
thief.. The cyber terrorist -- is the logical development of the world wide
terrorism of the cold and post cold war. These terrorist know that modern
society is vulnerable to attack through its networks that carry the information,
energy, and communications. Most if not all are exposed at some point to
attack through the Internet. The term hacker has evolved over time from
the geek, typically middle schoolers or teenagers who spent too much time
in front of a computer. The hacker is now someone, who thinks breaking
into computer systems is like climbing Mt. Everest, a challenge -- because
it is there. The hacker treats finding a way into a network and looking
around like an adventure or a twisted version of Dungeons and Dragons. Hacker's
find the network's weakness and exploit it, the greater the secrecy and
the risk, the greater the adrenaline rush and the higher the status points
in the hacker peer group. Due the increasing damage from hackers, society
has begun to develop a zero tolerance for even middle school hackers that
seek to do no harm but to explore forbidden sites.
Cyber Blackmail and other industrial crime:
The 1930's banker robber, Willie Sutton, replied when asked why he robbed
banks, "Because that's where they keep the money". Similarly, the industrial
spy or international thief knows, that a modern corporation depends on its
information system, and attacks it because that is where they keep
the information. Cyber terrorists have started looking for information such
as credit card data stored at E-commerce sites and either blackmailing the
E-commerce company to protect their customers or selling and/or using the
credit card information. They also know that denial of service, interfering
with customer transactions, and other operations is also a means of blackmail
or protection.
Corporate intranets and firewalls:
Like the medieval world the Lords of the business world did not join the
Internet until the entrepreneurs had begun to make money. Business made a
head long rush into the Internet with what can only be called a strategy based
on greed than careful plan. The promise of fortunes to first successful
applications and service providers led to the opening of the closed private
communications networks to the Internet. During this period the mythical
2K disaster forced many corporations into throwing out many of their old
systems and their proprietary OSs. The quantum growth in e-commerce also
brought in a new generation of software engineers. These efforts caused the
corporation Chief Information Officers, (CIO), to realize the venerability
of the marriage of the old private networks and the connection to the Internet.
In fact, many writers and academics had been aware of these issues since
the 1980s; but, no one pays attention to the forecast of disaster until the
dam begins leaking.
In an almost predictable manner the corporation, like the feudal lords
faced with the plague, retreat to the castle and pull up the draw bridge.
In modern parlance, the corporation keeps the features of the TCP/IP networks,
commonly and cheaply available software, and a large and trained workforce
and creates an intranet (a private or corporate Internet) and hides behind
a firewall. The intranet is a private version of the Internet that only is
open to the corporation's computers. The firewall is a computer (router) that
sits between the Internet and intranet and allows network traffic to be passed
from one to the other. In general the firewall may:
- require user ids and passwords, or
- be from an approved IP address, or
- to be of a specific type of message, i.e. ASCII text, or
- not to contain certain kinds, i.e. Java or Javascript, or
- any number of special digital certificates
before allowing information to flow in either direction.
Proxy Servers:
The proxy server is to act between the intranet and the Internet. The
proxy server is designed to work at the application layer. It is designed
to cache (store) frequently used pages for the servers various users. This
saves the user from having to go to the Internet for the same information
over and over again. The proxy server is normally used with other programs
such as firewalls. Firewalls are designed to operate at the transport layer
-- that is they work with the packets of information coming over the Internet
and the private intranet.
V. Newsgroups:
Newsgroups started out as electronic bulletin boards where people posted
questions and answers. There are now tens of thousands of newsgroups, which
are set up to address the information and social needs of Internet users.
Most newsgroups have a moderator, who decides if postings are appropriate
and/or non offensive to the group and can delete offending material. The
newsgroup is a server program, called a Listserv®,
that records the posting and sends it out to registered members of the newsgroups.
Students in the Cyber Ed section use a form of newsgroup called Web board
that restricts admission to the group via class membership (user ID and
password).
The original news concept goes back to the early Internet and the UNIX
operating system. The early systems were difficult to set up, maintain, and
use. Now, the major browsers all support a GUI that makes participating in
newsgroups relatively simple and productive. The concept of a newsgroup thread
is similar to that in email. A thread in a newsgroup allows the user to follow
a conversation, i.e. a thread links the current posting to the next response
and repeats the process going from the original posting to the most current.
A backward thread leads back to the original posting. Some newsgroup search
tools allow the user to see a diagram of the threads (in "tree" format) to
assist the user.
Discussion Groups:
Discussion groups are similar to Newsgroups in the manner in which they
work. However, there is one significant difference. In a discussion group
the participants are normally restricted to a private entity like a corporation,
a training or customer support group, or a special interest group or class.
The Newsgroup is open to the Internet while a discussion group may have password
protections, be part of a corporate intranet, or part of some Virtual Private
Network (VPN) to limit its access to those who are registered to the discussion
group.
- See -- Professor
Costello's Newsgroup Tutorial for a more complete discussion on how:
- to use Netscape's Messenger
- to join and,
- get involved in newsgroups,
- more importantly how to unsubscribe.
- For a specialist site devoted to searching newsgroups, see Google's
http://groups.google.com/(The Deja newsgroup archive has been recently been acquired
by Google.com) Google further decided to capture the complete
archive of newsgroup posting. With the help of many systems administrator's
ancient backup tapes, the posted wisdom of the Internet has been captured
from its early beginnings (about 700 Million messages).
- For a site that gives information on finding special interest newsgroups,
finding questions/answers posted, and other details (see http://www.dogpile.com/ )
VI. Internet Chat:
Chat rooms work with a variety of mechanisms. The most common is the Internet
Relay Chat (IRC) protocol which is one of the TCP/IP protocols. The chat
defines a channel (Chat Room) that will send all the messages typed by one
member of the channel to all the other clients logged into that channel
(chat room). Some chats require special browsers and charge fees on a monthly
basis. Most are moderated (either an employee of the Chat or a volunteer to
oversee that the language is not crude, harassing, or abusive) and have posted
rules of conduct that allows them to deny service to anyone who does not
conform to the rules.
Typing as a means of communication can lead to misunderstandings so chat
and other forms of net based social discourse have developed:
- emoticons as previously discussed above in the email material are
sometimes added to clarify the user's emotion, tone of voice, or intent.
- some chats allow for gestures or images that indicate
emotions.
- almost all veteran chat members use an extensive list of abbreviations.
Chat Tutorial
The future direction of chat:
Trends in the evolution of the chat room:
- The voice chat room where up to a dozen people can carry on using
the web telephony as if it were a conference call. The dozen people is the
limits imposed by today's computer and communication technology but this
limit will certainly grow until voice chat will take on the sounds of a cocktail
party.
- The 2-D and 3-D virtual world chat rooms, here the chat user selects
a persona -- in 2-d a picture or cartoon figure, in 3-d a creature that
is called an avatar that explores the virtual spaces. In one of these,
that we will visit later, you can not only use a text chat but carry on a
voice conversation.
- The business and/ or social meeting environments. Microsoft's Netmeeting
and similar products allow for a full range of of sophisticated meeting tools
including:
- web telephony and video conferencing (in most cases one on one or
a small number of members).
- white boards -- a window that the uses shared paint tools to express
their ideas visually and to mark up charts.
- shared applications -- the convener's computer is shared with the
meeting members. For instance, the instructor in a distance learning setting
can watch and correct a student's work. A group could share business tools
like spread sheets, presentations, databases, etc. during a virtual meeting
- normal chat rooms rooms and private ones for side discussions.
We shall explore all of these topics in more detail in later units.
Internet Social Behavior and Relationships:
At this point we are introducing the chat and will learn how to use the
basic features necessary for beginning to explore the social and business
communication potential of the Internet. We shall note that the new user,
called newbies, should approach the chat room with some caution. People are
come from all walks of life and backgrounds. The excitement of meeting new
people from all over the world can be a very exciting and addictive experience.
However, things are not always as they appear. Because of the lack of audio
or visual cues in the text only chats , some people use chat to take on an
artificial persona. This persona may take the form of role playing most commonly
trans-gender, or being some person that they want to imitate.
In some cases this is just harmless games -- in others it is a dangerous
predator seeking naive victims for fraud, sexual abuse, and/ or worse:
- There are enough cases of pedophiles using the Internet to locate
children that many local police departments monitor and set stings operations
(the police pretend to be children interested in the pedophile's advances).
While these sting operations have been high effective .there are still many
high profile cases in the news where children enticed and/or abducted by
these criminals. New Hamshire police have been at the leading edge of sting
technology.. Thus it is important for parents to educate and monitor their
children's chat, newsgroups, and Instant Messenger use. Pay close attention!!
- Terrorists both foreign and local are discovering the webs communication
potential. In a small Massachusetts town children were monitored over their
chats and IM to develop a profile and detailed model of the town. After a
period of time, the chat rooms started getting messages that threatened to
harm the chatters and their parents. The messages seemed to be a local person
due to the in-depth knowledge of the town. Coming soon after the Columbine
shootings the threats filled many parents and children with fear. The resulting
criminal investigation tracked down the criminal and set legal presidents
in cyber crimes. The terrorist was a teenager in the midwest.
- Adults use the chat rooms, IM, and other adult web sites for social,
educational, and business needs. But the dark side is that pornographers,
sex workers, and other people simply prey on weak, lonely, or elderly individuals.
Using the Internet is not completely safe. Avoid giving out personal information,
phone numbers and/ or social security numbers, etc in chat rooms. Be
careful to avoid entering into conversations that make you feel uncomfortable.
Error on the side of caution. Web cams offer a window into your home or
business so be extremely careful who you invite in.
We discuss the social, business, and criminal behavior on the Internet
in later material.
Finding a Chat Room to fit your interests:
Yahoo's
Chat Room Games
More Chat Rooms
VII. Instant Messaging:
While it is difficult to predict the direction of anything as volatile
as the evolution of communications on the internet, one trend that is rapidly
evolving and will more than likely become significant in the next few years.
It is the so called "Instant Message" (IM) pioneered by AOL and more recently
followed by MSmessenger. The IM in 2001 had some 50 million users and is
growing at a rate of over 20 (twenty) per cent a year. These systems are rapidly
gaining a following from middle schoolers to industry and government officials
that use the feature that tells an individual when his/her buddies (friends
or at least a registered list of associates) is on line. The notification
means that the person can immediately discuss an item rather than wait until
it is found in the email queue. The system acts like chat between the individuals
that are connected.
The original concept:
The original Unix OS and the old Digital Equipment Corporation's VAX OS
had a primitive form of this feature called Talk or Phone. The person desiring
the conversation sent a message to the other party that asked to establish
a connection. If the person was there and allowed the connection the screen
on the terminal (display) was divided in two. Each party typed in one portion
and saw the other party's remarks in the their partition.
Using a typical instant message application:
The typical instant message application will:
Basic AOL Instant Message Process
| Steps to using AOL |
Example |
| Step 1 Register as a member and develop a screen name or alias. |
|
| Step 2: Create a "buddy list" -- a list of people who have registered
with the application. Once created the application will notify you when the
person is online. |
|
| Step 3: Login and then will find your buddies and allow you to open
a dialog. |
|
Why is this an important step forward?
The concept is important in two ways. The first is that as a social communication
tool it gives an immediate and personal feeling of walking around a city
neighborhood. We see friends and can immediate wave and pass a pleasantry.
Second, for business it opens a door for asking a quick question. Note that
this option will quickly develop its own protocol. The corporate CEO does
not want the inhabitants of the cubicles just popping in for a quick discussion
of the latest rage in television shows. Hence, who is on whose buddy list
in the business world will require a careful understanding of the office culture.
The Pro's and Con's of IM Technology:
Every communications technology advance brings both positives and negatives.
| Pro's |
Con's |
| IM allows immediate responses, There is no waiting for the response
as in email. |
IM because of its immediate response can lead to immoderate flames,
misunderstandings, and interrupt our train of thought and work effort. |
| Family and business associates can locate when their friends are online. |
Buddies can want to talk while you want to work. Be sure to set your
IM status to keep from being interrupted by bored buddies. |
| Easy and user friendly applications that allow us to communicate -
text, voice, video. |
IM suppliers are tying many applications that only work with their
IM solution. This limits the choices the consumers have for these applications. |
| Corporations can create there own IM system and limit it to their
private intranets. This prevents or at least greatly limits its security
risks. |
Security holes in the corporate network, and IM application could
allow outsiders to record and monitor messages, etc. |
| IM can be incorporated into the enterprise level applications. Applications
like airport security are using IM over wireless Internets to communicate
with the Internet and intranet and for immediately finding staff and immediately
commentingalerts and other messages that need iinstantaneousresponse. |
IM products are being created to allow the corporation or government
to own and operate their own IM systems. While Yahoo, AOL, and other portal
are free, convenient, and available world wide they represent a major security
hole for those who must deal with sensitive information. |
Further Material:
A instant message tutorial via Real Audio.
http://www.virtualdr.com/tutorials/frame.phtml?URL=http://www.service911.com/internet/play_video/0,,6+132,00.html?field=REAL_56_URL
Note this may require to install your first plugin to extend your browser.
Real Audio is a program called a player that will allow you to get voice
and music over the Internet like a radio. The latest versions also allow video.
Try it out. Simply follow the directions on how to find and install the plugin.
Self Test of Lab Concepts:
Example:
Lab 1 Instructions: An Introduction to the Internet,
the World Wide Web, and Email
Day Students --
Before starting this Lab exercise, introduce yourself to your right and
left neighbors. If you are on the right end of the row your right neighbor
is on the left end of the row behind you, if you are in the right end
of the last row your right neighbor is on the left end of the first row.
Exchange your name and email addresses. Write them down!! |
| Online Students -- Click the class roster button on the left
side, define the right neighbor as the name above yours and the left neighbor
as the name below yours. The right neighbor of the first name on the list
is the name of the last person on the list. The left neighbor of the last
person on the list is the first person on the list. The email addresses are
given in the roster. We will take this opportunity to practice our email skills
and to introduce yourself to your classmates. |
Exercise 1 -- Introduction to the U Mass Lowell
Email System
| The Day School Sections: The university has many different
email systems. The most common one is the Mulberry email accounts that are
given out by the Academic Computer Center to all incoming freshmen. The
Computer Science CS department sets up an email account with the CS 91-113
course.
|
The Online Students Section: students should by now have acquired
an email account and set a password and a user-id. The ISP should have an
email address that looks like user-id@domain-name. The domain-name typically
is something like:" ispcorp.com" . The student should have also acquired and
installed Netscape Communicator 4.X or 7.X. We shall use Netscape's own Messenger
tutorial Netscape
Messenger
Note If the student is using a webmail, e.g. hotmail, Yahoo,
etc. Netscape Messager will not work. The Webmail howevr, should have most
if not all of the features necessary to do Exercise 2. If you have an
ISP email account then use the Netscape Messager:
- Read and follow the directions to set up the preferences to support
using the Messenger Email account.
- Logging In
Use your user id and password
to log in. - The student should find at least one email from
the instructor in his/her email account.
|
Exercise 2 -- Using the Email Program
- Create an Address Book
- Individuals
Add to the Address book the names and email
addresses of your right and left neighbors. - Groups
Create a group called my-neighbors where the
members are your right and left neighbors.
- Compose and Send Email to Individuals and Groups
- Composing the document
Compose a simple Hell
