Safe Computing
Network Harassment and Abuse
The University of Chicago Network Security Center gathers evidence in
harassment and abuse complaints involving members of the University
community and the University's data network. The Network Security Center
provides information to the appropriate disciplinary bodies of the University
in these incidents. It does not directly take disciplinary action.
Please note: by policy, we do not release any information on our
investigation except through the appropriate University disciplinary
body.
Things We Can Help With
- Finding people on campus who have sent unauthorized mass mailings.
- Finding people on campus who have sent harassing emails.
- Locating the appropriate contacts off campus for harassing emails.
Things We Can't Help With
There are a variety of things that we cannot provide help with. These include:- Phishing scams. These spam messages are illegal; there is little we can do to track them down. If you have lost money to one of these scams you should report it to the appropriate law enforcement agency.
- Mass mailings or other sources of spam that are sent by someone not a member of the University community.
- Virus-infected computers that are not part of the University network. We have no ability to find the owners of these computers; so, cannot inform the owners of the infection.
- Pornographic spam. Although it might be offensive, these messages are generally sent in bulk and not directed at the recipient of the email. Therefore, in most cases, these emails are not considered harassment and are rarely processed as such.
- Any message that is not illegal or harassing and is covered by first amendment rights of free speech.
If you are a member of the University community
If you feel there is an immediate threat to your physical safety, call the University Police Department.If you are being harassed through email: students should contact their divisional Dean of Students Office; staff should contact Human Resources; and faculty should contact the Provost's Office.
In addition, please send whatever relevant information you have to the Network Security Center at abuse@uchicago.edu so we may begin an investigation.
If you are not a member of the University community
If you believe that there is an immediate threat to your physical safety, contact your local law enforcement agency.If you are being harassed via our network and require an investigation, please send an email to abuse@uchicago.edu.
Please note: Many email messages display forged email addresses in the headers, so that the From line appears to be an uchicago.edu address, although it actually originated from an off campus source. This is common with emails that are virus infected or spam. To verify the originating address, display the full headers of the email. For information on reading email headers, check SpamcopNet.
Providing the Necessary Information for an Investigation
Please provide us with a description of the incident including the date, time, and time zone that it happened.If the incident involves email, please send us copies of relevant email messages including the full headers. Information on obtaining the full headers in a variety of mail clients is available from SpamcopNet.
Last updated: 3/19/08