Suspicious E-Mail
Spoofed E-Mails On the Rise
We have noticed a rising problem with "spoofed" e-mail messages addressed to our customers and claiming to be from Lucas Valley Cable. These often are cleverly worded, and invite the recipient to open an attachment. While we highly recommend that our customers install anti-virus software and keep it current with weekly updates, no anti-virus program can protect against the problems caused by clicking some attachments or following links to spoofing web sites. It is also important that you check for operating system updates frequently or configure your computer to check for these automatically.
If you open the attachment on a suspicious e-mail message, you run a serious risk of infecting your computer with a virus or worm. It is best to never open any e-mail attachment unless it is definitely from someone you know and if you are expecting it. If in doubt, write your correspondent and ask if the attachment is legitimate before opening it. It is even possible for friends and relatives to inadvertently pass on a virus in this way because their computer has been infected without their knowledge.
If you do open an infected attachment, it is your responsibility to remove the infection from your own computer. You can often find information on how to identify and remove viruses and worms on such web sites as symantec.com and mcafee.com . Or you can consult with or hire an expert to do this for you.
If you receive e-mail purporting to be from Lucas Valley Cable, please don't assume it is from us. Spammers and virus writers can even make links that appear to be to eBay or Yahoo take you to a bogus address that has artwork closely mimicking the real thing. Never follow such links, especially if they request personal information, passwords, and so on -- doing so exposes you to the risk of identity theft. The only way that you can be sure that you are dealing with the company that you think you are is by entering the web address yourself or by picking a favorite/bookmark item. Do not trust links found in e-mail messages.
Lucas Valley Cable E-Mail Notices
Occasionally we send e-mail to all customers, or to a group of customers, when we wish to pass on information regarding services changes, planned outages, and so on. You can change the e-mail address that we use for such communications by logging into our Support Page with your street address and the password that we assigned to you at the time of installation. When we send such messages, we never include an attachment.
A Solution to This Is a Long Way Off
The technical specifications governing the transmission of e-mail were developed years ago and included no provision to ensure that a message is from the person or organization that it claims to come from. It is easy, in other words, for malicious individuals to supply a false "from" address. Microsoft and others are attempting to refine e-mail protocols to correct this, but it will take years before such features are available and in common use.