Recently CaTS has noticed an increase in Wright State members who are targets of an IT security incident called 'email bombing'.
What is email bombing?
Email bombing is when an attacker registers your email address with hundreds or thousands of mailing lists.
Why was I targeted for email bombing?
The most likely reason someone is doing this to you is because they are trying to hack your account or overwhelm your inbox with messages so that you don't notice an important email about fraudulent activity. People who deal with financial data are more commonly targeted.
A lot of the emails I am getting have an unsubscribe button. Should I click it?
In general, we don't recommend trying to unsubscribe from mailing lists. Most reputable services that do mailings, won't email more than once unless you have confirmed your subscription. Less reputable services may unsubscribe you, but then sell your address to other services.
Can CaTS, Microsoft, or Google block these emails from being sent to me?
Unfortunately this is difficult because the attacker is not directly emailing you. Instead, the attacker is likely using a bot network of hundreds/thousands of IP addresses that are browsing to legitimate websites, entering your email address, and signing you up to receive a newsletter. Some people want to receive some of these newsletters so we cannot globally block them. We cannot block the emails based on the sender's IP address because they are coming from a legitimate newsletter website. We can block the emails based on keywords in the sender address, subject, or body of the email but we run the risk of blocking legitimate emails if we get the filters wrong.
Questions?
If you have any questions, contact the CaTS Help Desk at 937-775-4827, or email helpdesk@wright.edu.
