BigDrum Hosting Services

Windows Cluster Failover

2008-10-23T08:30:00.001-06:00

Today at 5:52AM CDT, the server cluster that contains the Windows server experienced a software failure. The failover routine to the mirrored server did not automatically execute. At 7:57AM CDT, the failover was manually triggered and the mirrored Windows server was available for web traffic. A trouble ticket was opened to troubleshoot the problem, and a physical examination of the affected server will occur. We regret the unexpected downtime that was experienced by our Windows hosting clients.

Mail Slowdown

2008-10-07T09:00:00.002-06:00

This morning our email gateway experienced a slowdown, starting around 6AM. The problem was identified at 9AM, at which point more than 1,000 emails were in the email queue. The email service was restarted, at which point the emails began flowing out at a steady pace. At no time was any email lost, it was that the delivery was delayed.

We apologize for any inconvenience that you may have experienced as a result of this slowdown.

New Email DNS Setting

2008-10-06T04:30:00.005-06:00

A change was made on Sunday to the DNS entry for BigDrum email service. A new IP address was assigned for all clients using the BigDrum email service. The new IP address is 208.67.207.10. If you are running email behind a firewall, you need to update your DNS to reflect this change.

Please note that no email was lost during this change.

Anyone accessing their company email from a Blackberry, TREO, iPhone or other PDA will need to power down and then turn the unit back on. (I recommend removing and reinstalling the battery on the Blackberry.) This will allow the phone to access the updated DNS servers from their mobile carrier. Without this, the mobile devices will continue to try and access the old IP address, and be unable to receive email.

Server Setting Snafu

2008-09-29T12:50:00.002-06:00

On Monday, September 28, 2008 at 1:25pm there was a server setting problem. While setting up a new web site, a typo in the server configuration file caused all sites to display a temporary index page for the new site. This error was reported to us at 1:40pm, and the problem was resolved by 1:42pm. At no time was any server data lost or compromised.

We apologize for site difficulties that might have occurred during this 17 minute period.

Firewall Causes Outage

2008-08-08T07:00:00.000-06:00

On Thursday, August 7, the BigDrum network experienced a service outage. This outage was the result of the firewall failing at the datacenter where our servers are located. As a result, no data was able to access our servers, which did not experience any failures during this time period. The total downtime for this outage was about 25 minutes, from initial monitor notification to the successful reboot of the firewall. This unit was replaced later that evening, with no loss of service.

Email Migration Complete

2008-06-14T11:30:00.001-06:00

Email service was migrated to a new email server last evening, 6/13. This migration is part of the move to a new data center where the BigDrum network will be co-locating its servers. This new server will continue the improved spam and anti-virus filtering you have experienced, as well as improved whitelisting.

Please note that most ISPs have updated their DNS (domain name service) records, but there are still some, like SBCGlobal, that are still pointing to the old mail server. It can take up to 48 hours for all DNS records to be updated across the Internet. We will keep the old email server available until 6/23/08.

1 in 4 PCs Infected with Fake MP3 Trojan Malware

2008-05-08T07:00:00.000-06:00

This week, security software company McAfee reported in a blog that presence of a new trojan malware named Downloader-UA.h. As reported on May 6, in a 24-hour period, this trogan has been detected by McAfee VirusScan Online on more than 119,000 computers out of almost 436,000 scanned, an infection rate greated than 25%. Typical malware that McAfee tracks has an infection rate in the 1% to 5% range.

The malicious files tend to be MP3 audio files or MPEG video files and are typically found on P2P sites like LimeWire and eDonkey. As noted in the blog, "When a user attempts to load one of these MP3 and MPG files, they don’t get the music/video they were hoping for; instead they’re directed to download a file named PLAY_MP3.exe. In fact, the MP3/MPG file they downloaded was completely fake, playing no media clip what so ever."

BigDrum recommends that you keep your virus software definition files up-to-date. In addition, ensure that your corporate Internet usage policy addresses P2P file-sharing.

Infected Web Pages on the Rise

2008-04-23T09:00:00.002-06:00

In a new report from Internet security company Sophos, the number of infected web pages has nearly triped in 2008. In its newly released Q1 08 threat report, the company noted that it discovered a new infected Web page every 5 seconds. In 2007, the company says, it saw new infected Web pages every 14 seconds. This appears to be occurring at the same time there is a decline in infected email. Sophos reports that about 1 out of every 2,500 e-mail messages contained malware, compared to 1 out of every 909 messages monitored in 2007. This appears to be related to a move by spammers from infectious email attachments to the use of links that lead to infected sites. However, email spam is still an issue. The Sophos reported that 92.3% of e-mail during 1Q 2008 was spam.

BigDrum continues to monitor and update its spam and virus filters to ensure that both the mail you receive and your web sites are protected from any malicious external attacks. We recommend that you update your local computer anti-virus and spam filters on a regular basis.

Happy Birthday SPAM

2008-03-31T16:00:00.003-06:00

Fifteen years ago today, March 31, 1993, a USENET entry by Joel Furr labeled an unsolicited email as 'spam'. This Usenet entry mentions how another USENET user tried to create a way to control posts through anonymous servers, but ended up creating a recursive chain of messages, and causing at least one email server to crash

The 30th anniversary of the first 'spam' coming later his year. This is attributed to an unsolicited email sent by a marketing representative at computer firm Dec on 3 May 1978, when he e-mailed every West Coast user on the Arpanet, the original building block of the internet.

Today, according to the Spamhaus Project, about 200 spammers worldwide are responsible for about 80% of all spam.

Improving SPAM Filtering

2008-02-06T11:30:00.000-06:00

Last evening adjustments were made to the MIME parser on our email system. This was done to improve the SPAM filtering, to allow for more accurate assessments of email attachments. During this time, there was a brief period when email was not delivered. The email was queued up on the server, and delivered when the system was restarted.

2007 BigDrum Overview

2008-01-18T10:15:00.000-06:00

2007 was a good year for us. Our hosting environment, which completed its sixth year of operation, continued to provide stable and reliable performance for web sites, online applications and email services. Highlights from the past year include:

99.96% network planned uptime
Migration to a new, distributed DNS server environment
Implementation of new server reports for Linux web hosting
Less than 10 hours of planned maintenance downtime
Under 4 hours of unexpected downtime, with no data lost
New failover system for our Application server

In addition, we welcomed several new clients for both Linux and Windows hosting. Our goal is to continue to provide you with the same level of improved performance in the coming year. Thank you for putting your trust in the BigDrum hosting network!

Holiday Spam Season is Upon Us

2007-12-11T09:00:00.000-06:00

In its December State of Spam report, Symantec reports that spam activity is up, accounting for 72% of all email server activity in November. This is activity at the SMTP layer filtering, and does not account for emails rejected at the network level. A disproportionate amount of spam activity continues to be generated from Asia, Europe and South America. Spam content currently includes the following types:

Products: 27%
Internet Services: 18%
Financial Offers: 15%
General 'Scams': 12%
Health Products: 9%
Fraud/Phishing: 7%
Adult: 6%
Leisure: 6%

Spam messages on the rise include:

2008 Bejing Olympics
Current Celebrity News
Email Addresses (Spanish/Italian)
Free Holiday Gift Cards

BigDrum continues to aggressively monitor spam and virus activity, to ensure you that the emails you receive are not harmful to your computer or business network.

Google 's Share of U.S. Web Searches Increases 6% in October

2007-11-20T15:00:00.000-06:00

Google accounted for 64.49% of all U.S. searches in October, as noted in a recent report from Hitwise. That was up 3.55 percentage points from a year earlier and 0.94 percentage point higher than in September. Yahoo, MSN Search and Ask.com received 21.65%, 7.42%, and 4.76% shares of the U.S. search market, respectively, in October, with only Ask.com improving its share year over year.

Spam Goes Multimedia

2007-10-19T10:00:00.000-06:00

A report from security firm Commtouch this week announced the arrival of a new spaMP3 attack. The spam message contains an low quality MP3 attachment, promoting a company called Exit Only. Mp3 spam, or spaMP3, is not new, having first been detected by Kaspersky Lab last August, but this is the first mass mailing to occur.

Spam levels are not letting up, with a recent report noting that 95% of all email in 3Q 2007 was spam. Typical spam tactics, such as image spam, are in decline, while malware, with links to infected web sites are on the rise. PDF and Excel file attachments are still active spam tactics that require close examination. The rise of spaMP3 mail will continue to clog up the Internet and cause delays on mail servers around the world.

BigDrum continues to actively block and filter email spam from our mail servers. We encourage you to keep your virus filters up-to-date and avoid giving out any email information to unknown or questionable web sites.

Adjusting SPAM Settings

2007-10-12T16:00:00.000-06:00

This weekend, BigDrum will be adjusting the settings on our spam filters. As we have noted in the past, spam is constantly changing and evolving, as spammers seek out ways to get their emails to your In Box. In response to recent client concerns, as well as industry alerts and recommendations, we will be changing how the filtering process responds to emails received by our server. We will monitor this over the weekend and throughout the day on Monday. We will make final setting changes on Monday evening.

As always, we recommend that you keep your individual computer anti-virus, firewall and email spam software up to date.

AOL Instant Messenger Vulnerability Identified

2007-09-28T08:30:00.000-06:00

Researchers at Core Security Technologies announced the discovery of a bug that they say could severely impact anyone using AOL's instant-messaging service, AIM. The flaw, according to Core Security, would enable a series of attacks -- enabling a remote hacker to execute malicious code, exploit Internet Explorer bugs, and inject scripting code in the IE browser.

The vulnerability affects AIM V6.1, as well as the V6.2 beta, which is AOL's latest version of the application. AIM Pro, the instant messaging version for corporate users, and AIM Lite, a simplified version of the client application are also impacted by this bug.

The security company is suggesting that AIM users running vulnerable client software switch to AIM V5.9, the latest version of the AIM client 6.5, which is still in beta, or the web-based AIM Express. An AOL spokesman said its technicians are working on the problem.

SPAM on the Rise Again

2007-09-12T16:30:00.000-06:00

MessageLabs, the leading provider of messaging security and management services to businesses, today announced the results of its August MessageLabs Intelligence Report. The new data reveals the latest StormWorm developments involving virtual postcards and YouTube video requests to distribute the Trojan code, and the increase in new malicious website appearing every day.

Spam - 74.0% in August (an increase of 3% since July)
Viruses - One in 80.4 emails in August contained malware (a decrease of 0.14% since July)
Phishing - One in 173.8 emails comprised a phishing attack (a fall of 0.32% since July

As spam increases, it has a negative impact on bandwidth and increased loads on email servers. BigDrum is diligent in updating its virus and spam definitions, to keep these emails from making it to your in box. As a precaution, you should keep your local anti-virus software updated on a weekly basis.

Why Email Spam is Bad

2007-09-10T07:30:00.000-06:00

This past week the Department of Justice got guilty pleas from four people involved in a "pump and dump" stock manipulation scheme. The four used email promoting penny stocks that were sent to spam lists, generating millions of spam email. The end result is that the companies they committed fraud against lost their businesses and these four are going to jail.

Spam is not a simple waste of time and Internet bandwidth; in this case it is a Federal crime. Here at BigDrum we are continually taking steps to ensure that your email is kept from this activity as much as possible. Please remember to update your local anti-virus software and keep your junk mail filters up-to-date.

Early Morning Server Impact

2007-08-14T16:00:00.000-06:00

This morning at 4:52AM CDT, there was a server interruption on two servers in our network. One of the application servers went into a reboot routine and was up and running properly within minutes of the interruption. The second server, the ww2 web server, did not successfuly reboot, and was offline until about 8:45AM. During this time all web traffic was successfully handled by the ww1 web server, with no negative impact on any client web sites. We have corrected the problem that prevented the ww2 server from rebooting, and are confident that we will not see this error again.

Watch out for SPAM in your email

2007-07-27T16:30:00.000-06:00

The Storm virus is in full swing and doesn't look like it is letting up soon. The BigDrum email server has been protected against this attack since April 2007, but because there are so many computers affected by this, it is impossible for us to filter out all of the possibilities. If our system thinks an email is SPAM we add the following to the subject line: ***SPAM***

If you see this, and the content has to do with receiving an e-card, DELETE IMMEDIATELY! Please remember to keep your computer anti-virus software up to date as well.

Storm Worm Erupts Into Worst Virus Attack In 2 Years

2007-07-25T10:00:00.000-06:00

InformationWeek is reporting that the authors of the Storm Worm are waging a multi-pronged attack that some researchers say is the largest they have experienced in two years. In interviews with representatives from anti-spam groups Postini and Secure Computing, both companies note record amounts of emails that contain a link to a malicious web site.

While your BigDrum email service and anti-spam service is working to keep spam away from your computer, we encourage you to keep your anti-virus filters up-to-date and configure your email application to capture any junk email that may make its way to your In-box.

Email Spam Targets Department of Justice

2007-06-29T08:15:00.000-06:00

The US Justice Department released a memo stating that a fraudulent email is not associated with the agency. The email informs the recipient that a complaint has been filed against them or their businesses. The e-mail even may have a DOJ logo at the top of the message body, and provides a fake case number and name of the person who made the so-called complaint; the message may also include an attachment that is supposed to contain a copy of the original complaint. The DOJ warns that the e-mails are a hoax and users should never click on any links inside of them or respond in any manner.

BigDrum reminds you that should you receive an email like this at work or at home, delete it immediately.

Network Impact

2007-06-14T09:40:00.000-06:00

This morning our network was impacted by a server problem. At about 8:30AM, one of the application servers failed, preventing Apache services from running. This is the server that hosts the ClickTracks tracking software, and because of this, any site with this tracking code installed experienced a delay in page loading time. This slowdown lasted approximately 55 minutes. In addition, form submission emails became queued up, and were delivered when the server was fully restored.

Another Email Scam - IRS Complaint

2007-06-07T16:30:00.000-06:00

WebSense Security Labs has identified a new variation on email spam that contains a link to download an executable file. The file is likely a Trojan Horse. The email originates from China.

Your BigDrum enhanced filtering is designed to prevent these types of files from reaching your computer. As always, please update your anti-virus and security software on your local computer on a regular basis.

Better Business Bureau Complaint Email Spam

2007-05-29T08:30:00.000-06:00

Websence, a leading online security company, has issued a warning about a new spam campaign that sends out e-mails purporting to be about a complaint filed with the Better Business Bureau. The fraudulent e-mail, which appears to be from the BBB, contains a Microsoft Word attachment. Attached to the message is a Microsoft Word document (Document_for_Case.doc), supposedly containing additional details regarding the complaint. The document actually contains a Trojan Downloader that, when opened, attempts to download and install a keylogger. This keylogger uploads stolen data to an IP address in Malaysia.

Should you or anyone you know receive this email, delete it immediately.