Q. What happens if someone tries to send me a virus by email?
A. You’ll still receive the email as normal but any infected files attached to the email will be replaced by a short note entitled “VirusWarning.txt”, explaining which file was infected by a virus.
Q. I think I might have a virus! Will this protect anybody I send email to from catching it?
A. No. At present the system only scans mail delivered to Pacific Internet customers.
Q. Will this guarantee I never get a virus? How about viruses in files I download from the web?
A. Pacific Internet cannot guarantee all emails you receive will be virus-free but we anticipate our virus protection system will block a significant majority of viruses. The system does not, however, block any viruses from websites or other download sources. We recommend users also obtain a separate virus scanning product for their desktop for these and other such cases.
Q. A friend sent me an email and the system said it removed a virus from it! I told my friend and she said she’s sure she doesn’t have a virus so the file could not have been infected. How can I ensure that I receive the file anyway?
A. We don’t recommend you try this unless you do have an up-to-date virus scanner on your own computer, but any attachment blocked by our scanner will give you a reference number. Please contact our Technical Support team on 13 36 35 and state the reference number so we can provide you with the blocked attachment, at your own risk.
Q. I don’t want anyone to read my mail!
A. The system is entirely automated and no member of staff can read your email at any time.
Q. I’d really prefer to not have the system scan my mail. Can you remove virus scanning from my account?
A. Yes, please contact Technical Support or Account Support on 13 36 35 to remove the service from your account.
Q. What virus scanning software do you use?
A. Virus scanning is performed using the Symantec ContentScan Server.
Q. How often do you update your virus definitions?
A. New viruses are constantly being released and detected all the time. We check for new virus definitions numerous times each day to make sure you’re protected as much as possible.
Q. What about spam? How will this protect me from spam?
A. We use a software package called SpamAssassin to detect and block spam. It works by detecting key phrases (e.g. “Make money fast!”) and other patterns (e.g. mail sent to a number of users with similar email addresses) common to spam. It assigns a score (positive or negative) to each feature found and if the total score for the message is higher than the threshold set by our engineering team, the message will be blocked.
Q. What is spam? Isn’t it a form of
processed meat?
A. “Spam” is a common term for what is otherwise known
as UCE (Unsolicited Commercial Email) or UBE (Unsolicited Bulk Email).
This is email sent by an unrelated party to a large number of email
addresses, regardless of your desire to receive, or not receive,
the email. While this might seem like a good idea to some people,
the sheer number of people on the Internet means that even though
only a small number of people engage in this unwanted activity,
it can deliver large amounts of unwanted email to your mailbox.
The term “spam” comes from an old Monty Python sketch.
“SPAM” (all capitals) is a processed meat product, and is a registered trademark of Hormel Foods.
Q. So will this stop me from receiving unwanted email?
A. The system will certainly result in a reduction in the amount of unwanted emails delivered to your mailbox. The spam threshold set by our server is set at a level that minimises the chance of blocking legitimate mail, while still blocking unwanted mail. Some unwanted messages may still get through.
Q. I think the system blocked mail I wanted to receive!
A. It is possible that some messages might be falsely regarded to be spam. If you believe messages to you are being blocked in this manner, please contact Technical Support on 13 36 35.