Re: The View Usage Report tool may report many e-mail messages in Windows Small Business Server 2003

Thank you for your response.

I am somewhat confused since I spent part of a weekend here several months
ago doing all the updates to prepare for SBS 2003 SP1 and then ran the SP1
update which seemed to go okay. Since then I have frequently run the
Baseline Security Analyzer which indicated I had all updates but it seems
that SP1 is not installed. Please see my comments inside your message
below. By the way after reading this should I rerun the SBS 2003 SP1? Will
it undo Exchange SP2 or cause any problems with this since it wants Exchange
SP1 to be installed? Thank you.

""Crina Li"" <v-crinal@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:%235%23LXhIhGHA.2260@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Hi MW,

Thank you for posting in SBS newsgroup.

According to your post, I understand the issue to be: The View Usage
Report
tool report many e-mail messages on your SBS server after you have
installed SBS 2003 SP1. If I have misunderstood your concerns, please do
not hesitate to let me know.

Note: the reply may be too long, thanks for your patient on the issue.

As I know, there are two causes of this issue:

1. It is a known issue of the View Usage Report tool in Windows Small
Business Server 2003 which counts the copies of an e-mail message
incorrectly when you send an e-mail message to multiple users with unique
domain mail addresses. SBS 2003 SP1 has fixed this issue.
2. The computer is infected by virus or spyware.

To narrow down the problem, would you please check the following
information?

Firstly, please check if users have send such many emails. And then please
check if you have followed the below to install SP1:
The email are not valid. The users did not send thousands of emails.

Before we install the SBS 2003 SP1 onto the server, we need to make sure
that the required components such as Windows server 2003 SP1, Exchange
2003
SP1, WSS SP1 have been installed. Please refer to the release note and
double check the install procedure:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=022677CC-F5AC-4BFB-
9AD0-454E89CB98BB&displaylang=en

Would you please help me confirm if you have strictly followed the
document
to install SBS SP1?

Yes I came in on a weekend to specifically follow this document.


For SBS 2003 Standard:
http://download.microsoft.com/download/2/e/9/2e902d14-da2e-43ba-8bd6-6d258f5
356b6/SP1Setup_std.htm

For SBS 2003 Premium:
http://download.microsoft.com/download/2/e/9/2e902d14-da2e-43ba-8bd6-6d258f5
356b6/SP1Setup_prem.htm

If you have done so, please double check the following:

1. Have you received the prompt box which indicated the SBS 2003 SP1 has
been finished successfully?

It has been several months ago now but I do not remember any
problems.

2. You can check if SBS 2003 SP1 is installed through taking a look at
this
registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\SmallBusinessServer\ServicePackNumber

This registry key does not exist.


It should be set to "1" if the server is at SP1.

In addition, you may check what SP level the following components are at
by
using the steps respectively:

- Windows Server 2003: Right-click on My Computer and choose Properties;
or
run "winver".

"winver" results - version 5.2 build 3790 srv03_sp1_rtm.060324-1447
service pack 1


- Exchange Server 2003: Click Start -> All Programs -> Microsoft Exchange
-> System Manager, expand Servers, right-click on servername and choose
Properties.

version 6.5 7638.2 SP2


- SQL Server 2000: Click Start -> All Programs -> Microsoft SQL Server ->
Enterprise Manager, right-click servername under SQL Server group and
choose Properties.

Microsoft SQL Server option does not exist under "All Programs"


3. Do you see "Microsoft Windows Server 2003 for Small Business Server
Service Pack 1" when you view properties of My Computer?

Yes


To check if your computer is infected, I suggest that you use your
anti-virus application and anti-spyware application to check the affected
client computer.

The computers do not have a virus.


You can download anti-spyware application from
<http://www.spychecker.com/software/antispy.html>

If you do not have anti-virus application, you may try the following
on-line free virus scanner.

http://housecall.antivirus.com/housecall/start_corp.asp#top
<http://housecall.antivirus.com/housecall/start_corp.asp%23top>
<http://security.symantec.com/ssc/home.asp>
<http://www.mcafee.com/myapps/mfs/default.asp>
<http://www.pandasoftware.com/activescan/com/activescan_principal.htm>
<http://www.ravantivirus.com/scan/>

Are these emails NDR emails? If so, please check the following:

No, they just appear to be multiple counts of email


(Do NOT use these steps unless you are under this kind of attack) Nowadays
spammers have a new means to avoid filters built into many systems. They
take advantage of a mail systems sending of a non-delivery report (NDR)
when a message cannot be delivered as addressed and returns the original
contents. Since this follows the RFC standard, most all mail servers will
function this way. This is what is called a "Reverse NDR attack" (RNDR).
This form of attack is becoming increasingly widespread. Some users get it
so badly that over 33% of their Internet messages are attributed to this
type of spam. The end result is the spammer has attained a new form of
mail
relaying. Your server''s resources are being stolen to deliver spam.

How does a "Reverse NDR" attack work?

Step 1 Spam email is created with the intended spam victim''s address in
the sender field and a random, fictitious recipient, at your domain, in
the
To: field.

Step 2 Your mail server cannot deliver the message and sends an NDR email
back to what appears to be the sender of the original message, the spam
victim.

Step 3 The return email carries the non-delivery report and possibly the
original spam message. Thinking it is email they sent, the spam victim
reads the NDR and the included spam.

What are the symptoms of a RNDR attack?

1. Sluggish email delivery

Email is not sluggish

2. Outbound queues full of non-delivery notices

No problems with this

3. Excessive admin time to clear outbound queues

No problems with outbound queues

4. Badmail folder''s size grows quickly

Badmail folder is not a problem


If you are experiencing any of the above, chances are good your mail
server
is under attack.

To stop the RNDR from happening, follow the following steps:

To Configure Recipient Filtering

This has been done for quite a while


When you enable recipient filtering (if you are using SMTP for incoming
emails) on the SMTP virtual server, e-mail messages that are received from
anyone on the recipient filter are not accepted. Recipient filtering is
set globally, but you enable it on a per-Virtual Server basis on each SMTP
virtual server.

To create a recipient filter:

1. Click "Start", point to "Programs", point to "Microsoft Exchange", and
then click "System Manager".
2. Expand "Global Settings", right-click "Message Delivery", and then
click
"Properties".
3. Click the "Recipient Filtering" tab, and then click the checkbox at the
bottom (Filter recipients who are not in the directory).
4. Specify any additional filter options that you want to configure,
Select Apply, and then click "OK".

Already done


To enable recipient filtering on the SMTP virtual server:

1. Click "Start", point to "Programs", point to "Microsoft Exchange", and
then click "System Manager".
2. Expand "Servers", expand "<ServerName>", and then expand "Protocols".
3. Expand "SMTP", right-click "Default SMTP Virtual Server", and then
click
"Properties".
4. Click the "General" tab, and then click "Advanced".
5. In the "Address" list, click the IP address where you want to apply the
recipient filter, and then click "Edit".
6. Click to select the "Apply Recipient Filter" check box, click "OK", and
then click "OK".

Already done


Note: Recipient filter rules apply only to anonymous connections.
Authenticated users and Exchange servers bypass these validations.

Also I provide the following methods of protecting Exchange:

1. Disable the Guest account in your SBS 2003 server and enable Stronge
Password Protection. Everytime when you run CEICW you will be asked for
enabling password policies after it ends. I suggest you enable it. You can
also do that in Server Management\Users->Configure Password Policies. For
more information, see:

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/windowsserver2003/technologies/
security/bpactlck.mspx

Already Done


2. We can block unsafe attachments in emails by running through CEICW and
enable Internet Email on the wizard. You should see a page named "Remove
E-mail Attachments" where you can choose to block all or some of the
unsafe
attachments. For more information, you can search "Remove E-mail
Attachments" (without the quotes) in SBS 2003 Help and Support Center.

Already Done


3. If you are using SMTP for incoming emails, you can install IMF
(Intelligent Message Filter):

Already Done



According to the "Exchange Best Practices Analyzer" exchange is configured
properly.


http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=C1B08F7B-8CAF-4147-
B074-8C9C8F277071&displaylang=en

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/exchange/2003/library/imfdeploy
mspx

Useful Articles about installing SP1:

What's New for Windows SBS 2003 with Service Pack 1
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=B5846A14-F306-41F0-
9D1F-97F615E62ADF&displaylang=en

Windows Small Business Server 2003 with Service Pack 1 Getting Started
Guide
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&familyid=483b
6e22-8ed2-420b-915e-96d469347fb2

Installation Instructions for Service Pack 1 for Windows Small Business
Server 2003
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=D56A7675-27C1-445B-
A61F-007A30852AC6&displaylang=en

<Note>: This response contains a reference to a third party World Wide Web
site. Microsoft can make no representation concerning the content of these
sites. Microsoft is providing this information only as a convenience to
you: this is to inform you that Microsoft has not tested any software or
information found on these sites and therefore cannot make any
representations regarding the quality, safety, or suitability of any
software or information found there. There are inherent dangers in the
use
of any software found on the Internet, and Microsoft cautions you to make
sure that you completely understand the risk before retrieving any
software
on the Internet.

Please feel free to let me know if you have any further questions or
concerns.

I appreciate your time and look forward to hearing from you.

Best regards,

Crina Li (MSFT)

Microsoft CSS Online Newsgroup Support

Get Secure! - www.microsoft.com/security

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--------------------
| From: "MW" <Info at vytron com>
| Subject: The View Usage Report tool may report many e-mail messages in
Windows Small Business Server 2003
| Date: Tue, 30 May 2006 11:05:24 -0400
| Lines: 7
| X-Priority: 3
| X-MSMail-Priority: Normal
| X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2900.2869
| X-RFC2646: Format=Flowed; Original
| X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2900.2869
| Message-ID: <OZvj7p$gGHA.3996@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
| Newsgroups: microsoft.public.windows.server.sbs
| NNTP-Posting-Host: host124-210.birch.net 216.212.124.210
| Path: TK2MSFTNGXA01.phx.gbl!TK2MSFTNGP01.phx.gbl!TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl
| Xref: TK2MSFTNGXA01.phx.gbl microsoft.public.windows.server.sbs:271730
| X-Tomcat-NG: microsoft.public.windows.server.sbs
|
| In Article ID:867457 titled "The View Usage Report tool may report many
| e-mail messages in Windows Small Business Server 2003" it mentions that
this
| was fixed in SBS 2003 service pack 1. I am on SP1 and still have this
| problem. Was it fixed or does this problem still exist? Is there
something
| I can do to get the Usage Report working correctly?
|
|
|



.

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