RELEASE ON RECEIPT

Curbing Abuse in Cyberspace
U.VA. WEBSITE DESCRIBES HOW TO REPORT, DETER ONLINE ABUSE

        CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., Oct. 2 --  The Web has not only become a quick 
and easy form of communications, but a marketing tool for businesses and 
opportunists.  In a effort to stem the tide of unwanted chatter and 
advertisements via E-mail, the University of Virginia has set up a web site 
to inform students, faculty and staff  how to report and protect themselves 
against abuse.
        Abuse@virginia.edu was set up earlier this month, and already has 
received more than 200 "hits," or visitors to the site.  A team, made up of 
staff members from Information Technology and Communication (ITC), Student 
Affairs, the University Police and the University's Data Security Officer, 
is poised to respond to reports of abuse and complaints.
        It can be argued that no technology is used exactly the way inventors 
intended, and so it is with the Internet, whose original goal in the 1960s 
was a sharing of resources among college and university researchers.  
Founders of network computing wanted researchers at Stanford to be able to 
use software on a machine at MIT although the two computers had incompatible 
operating systems.  From there, it was a short step to exchange of messages 
and documents, and the origin of E-mail.
        "This technology is now part of our lives, and like the telephone, 
it is part of the social environment," says Sam Miller, an assistant to the 
vice president for student affairs, who is involved with the project.  "We 
have people who are very comfortable and sophisticated with the system, and 
as a result, there is always the potential for abuse."
        Today, the Internet is being transformed into a social and business 
marketplace, with a proliferation of ways to make new friends, and 
advertisers pitching everything from credit card to pornography.   It is also 
often used by hackers and others to transmit offensive and abusive messages.  
But while the Internet is a relatively safe place to work, socialize and 
pick up a new ideas, that general safety, coupled with many people accessing 
the Internet from the privacy and safety of their homes, can lead to a false 
sense of safety.
        A spate of complaints last year, two of them involving the FBI, 
prompted U. Va. officials to set up the site.   People who log-on to the 
site are given a variety of suggestions on how to minimize the chances of 
being victims, and are told the best ways to report problems.
        Applying basic rules learned in the early stages of life helps in 
the computer age.   Safety recommendations include the following:

        % Protect Your Password:   Protecting the password is the single 
most important thing one can do to secure a computer account.   Be aware 
that hackers impersonate "Computer Center" officials and try to trick people 
into revealing their passwords, and don't program computers to automatically 
enter password(s) when turned on.
        % Never "Share" Accounts:  Don't let anyone use your computer account.

        % Beware "Shoulder Surfers": In public computing settings, computer 
labs, classrooms or in the office, stay alert for "shoulder surfers" whenever 
typing in a password.

        % Sign off Before Leaving a Workstation Unattended:  In public 
computing environments, always sign-off/log-off computer account(s) before 
leaving the workstation unattended.

        % Be Smart About E-Relationships:  Computer mediated communication 
is one of the most exciting aspects of interacting in cyberspace.  Users 
should remember this isn't like any other form of communication.  Sometimes 
the people on-line in chat rooms, through E-mail lists, in newsgroups, 
aren't always truthful about their real identities.

        % Think Twice Before Taking Action:  Remember that electronic 
communication doesn't include the nonverbal signals often taken for granted 
in face-to-face  conversations.  An E-mail message, chat discussion, or 
newsgroup posting may not be taken the way one means for it to be taken.

        The best way to report a problem is to send an E-mail message to the 
Abuse Response Team (E-Mail: abuse@virginia.edu), or call the ITC Help Desk 
at 924-3731.  For more information on reporting possible abuse, see "How to 
Report Abuse" on the Internet.   Students, faculty or staff found guilty of 
online abuse will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
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                                                           October 1, 1997
        For additional information please contact Sam Miller at (804) 924-7984.
Television reporters should contact our TV News Office at (804) 924-7550.