The DEWEY Exchange 2007 server was reported to have delays in processing requests from clients. We are restarting the information store to resolve the issue.

Update 1:00 PM: The information store has finished restarting and we’ve confirmed access to mailboxes on each DB.

Update 3:46 PM: Multiple parties have reported issues in delivery speed. We are rebooting the DEWEY server in order to clear out the cached memory.

Update 4:08 PM: We’ve been monitoring the server reboot via KVM. The server is in the process of installing windows updates before it completes the reboot.

Update 4:21 PM: The installation of the windows update has completed and the server is now stopping the Exchange services. The server should complete the reboot in the next 15 minutes.

Update 4:49 PM: The reboot has completed. We’ve verified that mail is being routed and confirmed that our test users could login.

Update 5:30 PM: After the reboot, the DEWEY transport started routing mail through one of it’s alias IPs instead of the primary IP, causing outgoing messages to be rejected as “Relaying denied, proper authentication required” The issue has been resolved and mail is routing out.

Microsoft has released security bulletin MS10-046 to address a critical vulnerability affecting Microsoft Windows. This vulnerability is due to the failure of Microsoft Windows to properly obtain icons for shortcut files. By convincing a user to display a specially crafted shortcut file, a remote attacker may be able to execute arbitrary code.

Network Logix strongly encourages users and administrators to review Microsoft security bulletin MS10-046 and apply any necessary updates to mitigate the risks.

Additional information regarding this vulnerability can be found in the following:

• Microsoft Security Bulletin MS10-046
• Microsoft Security Advisory 2286198
• US-CERT Current Activity Entry “Microsoft Windows .LNK Vulnerability“
• US-CERT Vulnerability Note VU#940193

Microsoft has issued a Security Bulletin Advance Notification, indicating that its July release will contain four bulletins. Three bulletins will have the severity rating of critical and will be for Microsoft Windows and Office. The remaining bulletin will have the severity rating of important and will be for Microsoft Office. Release of these bulletins is scheduled for Tuesday, July 13, 2010.

Network Logix will provide additional information as it becomes available.

Microsoft has issued a Security Bulletin Advance Notification, indicating that its June release will contain ten bulletins. Three of these bulletins will have the severity rating of critical and will be for Microsoft Windows and Internet Explorer. The remaining bulletins will have the severity rating of important and will be for Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Office, and Microsoft Sharepoint Services. Release of these bulletins is scheduled for Tuesday, June 8, 2010.

Network Logix will provide additional information as it becomes available.

Microsoft has released updates to address vulnerabilities in Microsoft Windows, Office, and Visual Basic for Applications as part of the Microsoft Security Bulletin Summary for May 2010. These vulnerabilities may allow an attacker to execute arbitrary code.

Network Logix encourages users and administrators to review the bulletins and follow best-practice security policies to determine which updates should be applied.

This morning around 8:45AM EST, we began to experience issues with many of the websites hosted in our Data Center.  The network issue occurred with our partner The Planet.  Network issues in their Houston Data Center caused many of our client websites to be unavailable. (This included this blog)  As of 9:20 AM EST, the issue appears to have been resolved.  We are waiting for more information from The Planet as to what the exact cause of the outage was, and how to prevent this issue from occurring again.  We appreciate your patience while we worked to resolve this issue, and sincerely apologize for any inconvenience.  We will update this post with additional information as it becomes available.

UPDATE: According to The Planet, “Our initial analysis shows that a circuit between Dallas and Houston caused the ~8 a.m. CDT network disruption, and it has been repaired.”  All websites hosted by Network Logix are back online.

Microsoft has issued a Security Bulletin Advance Notification, indicating that its April release cycle will contain 11 bulletins. Five of them will have the severity rating of critical and will be for Microsoft Windows. The remaining six bulletins will have the severity rating of important or moderate and will be for Microsoft Windows, Office, and Exchange. Release of these bulletins is scheduled for Tuesday, April 13, 2010.

Network Logix will provide additional information as it becomes available.

In the past, Network Logix has received reports of an increased number of phishing scams and malware campaigns that take advantage of the United States tax season. Due to the upcoming tax deadline, Network Logix reminds users to remain cautious when receiving unsolicited email that could be part of a potential phishing scam or malware campaign.

These phishing scams and malware campaigns may include the following: information that refers to a tax refund, warnings about unreported or under-reported income, offers to assist in filing for a refund, or details about fake e-file websites. These messages, which appear to be from the IRS, may ask users to submit personal information via email or may instruct the user to follow a link to a website that requests personal information or contains malicious code.

At this time, Network Logix is aware of public reports indicating that there is active circulation of a tax season malware campaign. This malware campaign may be using malicious code commonly known as Zeus or Zbot.

Network Logix encourages users and administrators to take the following measures to protect themselves from these types of phishing scams and malware campaigns:

• Do not follow unsolicited web links in email messages.
• Maintain up-to-date antivirus software.
• Refer to the IRS website related to phishing, email, and bogus website scams for scam samples and reporting information.
• Refer to the Recognizing and Avoiding Email Scams (pdf) document for more information on avoiding email scams.
• Refer to the Avoiding Social Engineering and Phishing Attacks document for more information on social engineering attacks.

Microsoft has issued a Security Bulletin Advance Notification, indicating that its March release cycle will contain two bulletins. These bulletins will have a severity rating of Important and will be for Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Office. Release of these bulletins is scheduled for Tuesday, March 9, 2010.

Network Logix will provide additional information as it becomes available.

Microsoft has issued a Security Bulletin Advance Notification, indicating that its February release cycle will contain 13 bulletins. Five of them will have a severity rating of Critical and will be for Microsoft Windows. The remaining eight bulletins have an Important rating and are for Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Office. Release of these bulletins is scheduled for Tuesday, February 9, 2010.

Network Logix will provide additional information as it becomes available.