Connect
Today, Mayo Clinic Connect was under siege by a spam bot - a machine or program, not a real member. A spam bot is a computer program that sends unwanted or inappropriate content sent to a large number of people. Many of you noticed hundreds of posts about airlines and travel and more that had nothing to do with health or the usual discussions on Mayo Clinic Connect.
All spam content and bot accounts have been removed. Additional security and safeguards have been put in place to help prevent this from happening in the future.
To help us stay ahead of unwanted activity, please continue to report inappropriate content as many of you did.
How to report inappropriate discussions or comments
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Click the 3 dots (...) to the bottom right of the post.
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Select Report discussion (or Report comment)
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Briefly describe why the moderating team should review the post.
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Click Submit.
Tomorrow's daily digest for January 16, 2025 has been cancelled. It will resume delivery on Friday, January 17. You can see activity using onsite notifications.
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Connect
Thank you to our amazing teams of people that helped get this under control.
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9 Reactions@colleenyoung, Thanks so much! Happy New Year too you!
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6 ReactionsWe're a team here, whether 'on staff' or just visiting. We all gotta make it work....together.
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10 Reactions@colleenyoung Thank you, Colleen, and all the brilliant IT staff at Mayo Clinic for "neutralizing" the spam bot. It did feel that we were under siege by the First Order but the Resistance rose to the occasion (quoting Star Wars Episode VII - the Force Awakens here).
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7 ReactionsMy question is did they get any information about use.
Name
Address
And so on.
Thank you
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1 ReactionI don't think name, address and other personal information is viewable by other members unless you posted it in a discussion and it wasn't caught by a mentor or moderator. We remove personal information if we see that a member has posted it thinking they were only sharing it with a specific other member or members in a discussion. Private messages where members can safely share contact information are only visible to the members involved with the specific private message.
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4 Reactions@minnesota10, those are really good questions. Thank you for asking.
No, the bot did not hack the account database or access private information, such as emails or passwords associated with member accounts. That information remains secure.
Spam bots usual intent is to lure you to click a link or call a phone number to drive business elsewhere.
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10 ReactionsI just checked messages today and there was a message about how to change a name in Spirt airlines. It was at 2;53 about it was posted.
Sue
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1 ReactionThanks, @minnesota10. And the post was gone almost as soon as you saw it, right? 🙂
If you see any that have not been remove, please report it:
1. Click the 3 dots (...) to the bottom right of the post.
2. Select Report discussion (or Report comment)
3. Briefly describe why the moderating team should review the post.
4. Click Submit.
Really appreciate your help.
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