Good observation. Kudos Timothe!

On Mon, Oct 6, 2014 at 2:47 PM, Timothe Litt <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>  I've just spent a couple of hours tracking down why dozens of e-mails to
> this list have been quarantined by anti-virus software on my servers (and
> probably other servers).
>
> As I receive the list in digest format, this means many postings as the
> entire digest (typically a day's worth of posts) is treated as malicious.
>
> The problem turned out to be that a member's e-mail signature includes a
> URL that Google has detected as a distributor of 19 exploits.
>
> I've notified that member of the details privately.
>
> *For everyone else:* The lesson is that including URLs in your signature
> (as well as in the message body) can cause your e-mail to be treated as
> malicious and not delivered.  At least when sending to mailing lists,
> please keep your signatures as simple (and short) as possible!
>
> FYI, to check a URL's status with Google's service, simply visit http://www.google.com/safebrowsing/diagnostic?site=
> ,  appending the url (starting with http://) after the '='.
>
> *For the listserv administrator:*  Mail sent to the list should go
> through an anti-virus filter before being accepted.  ClamAV is what I use
> (free, safe & effective); configure it with 'SafeBrowsing yes' in
> freshclam.conf.  Because that (apparently) isn't being done, a single
> problematic posting causes every digest including (or quoting) that message
> to be treated as malicious.  The classification is correct, but the effect
> is to suppress delivery of many postings.  In any case, the list should try
> not to distribute malicious mail.  (In this case, sent inadvertently.)
>
> This technical interlude now returns you to the regularly-scheduled
> programming...
>
> --
> Timothe Litt
> ACM Distinguished Engineer
> --------------------------
> This communication may not represent the ACM or my employer's views,
> if any, on the matters discussed.
>
>


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