December 15, 2005

We apologize for the recent slow downs and delays with email that many of you may have experienced on Tuesday and Wednesday and we apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you. We understand how integral email is to everyone's day-to-day business and personal communications.

As a result of the SOBER email spamming virus and several variations of it circulated throughout the Internet, the amount of spam we filter on behalf of our customers exponentially increased. While one practice in this situation is to lax filtering standards, we made the decision to sustain our elevated filtering standards in an effort to help prevent the Brainstorm Community from becoming infected with the virus. To do so, we increased our processing capacity to meet the volume of email to be filtered and full quality of service was restored to our entire customer base at 2:00 pm yesterday.

Although we cannot control the release of viruses over the Internet, we can provide seamless services. As many of you may have read, the SOBER virus caused services delays with the major Internet Service Providers nationwide and hit Brainstorm mid-stride of a more than half million dollar upgrade to our network which we are now fast-tracking. For Brainstorm customers this means that their email services will continue without interruption or delay despite the release of Internet email spamming viruses such as SOBER. It also means many enhancements to our services and technologies to enhance our customers' online experience.

We would like to take this opportunity to pass on some Internet savvy advise for preventing and protecting yourself, family and friends against Internet
viruses:

- Do not open any files attached to an email from an unknown, suspicious or
untrustworthy source. This is especially true of a file with a .zip
extension. It is rare that anyone would send you a 'zip' file without you
knowing in advance.
- Do not open any files attached to an email unless you know what it is,
even if it appears to come from a dear friend or someone you know. Some
viruses can replicate themselves and spread through email. Better be safe
than sorry and confirm that they really sent it.
- Do not open any files attached to an email if the subject line is
questionable or unexpected.
- Delete chain emails and junk email. Do not forward or reply to them. These
types of email are considered spam, which is unsolicited, intrusive mail
that clogs up the network.
- Do not download any files from strangers.
- Exercise caution when downloading files from the Internet. Ensure that the
source is a legitimate and reputable one. If you're uncertain, download the
file to a floppy and test it with your own anti-virus software.
- Update your anti-virus software regularly. Over 500 viruses are discovered
each month, so you'll want to be protected.
- Back up your files on a regular basis. If a virus destroys your files, at
least you can replace them with your back-up copy. You should store your
backup copy in a separate location from your work files, one that is
preferably not on your computer.
- When in doubt, always err on the side of caution and do not open,
download, or execute any files or email attachments. Not executing is the
more important of these caveats. Check with your product vendors for updates
which include those for your operating system web browser, and email. One
example is the security site section of Microsoft located at
http://www.microsoft.com/security.

If you are in doubt about any potential virus-related situation you find yourself in, please call your Brainstorm Neighborhood Tech Team.