The Department of Information Systems (DIS) monitors traffic on the Arkansas Public School Computer Network (APSCN) network for the presence of suspicious activity. DIS uses MARS (Monitoring, Analysis and Response System) and has recently reported a problem relating to the use of Yahoo Instant Messenger (IM).
Yahoo IM uses port 25 which is typically reserved for email. The use of this port by Yahoo IM causes MARS to indicate a potential problem with the school’s network, when in fact there may not be. If MARS is changed to ignore Yahoo IM, it will miss real problems such as an infected mass mailer.
There are two possible solutions to this problem and all school districts, open-enrollment charter schools and education service cooperatives must implement one of the following actions:
• Discontinue the use of Yahoo IM no later than February 29, 2008; or,
• Set up a proxy server by February 29, 2008, that will modify the behavior of Yahoo IM so that port 25 is not used by Yahoo IM.
Questions regarding these two options should be referred to the DIS Call Center at 800-435-7989.