Microsoft has identified a “zero-day” vulnerability involving .TIFF files. This means that neither Microsoft nor the antivirus companies have been able to develop tools to address this vulnerability. Because this is a zero-day vulnerability, the only way to protect yourself is to exercise extreme caution when opening .TIFF files, no matter how they reach you—whether via e-mail, web sites, or any other means.  ETRN advises all its users to be very careful with .TIFF files.  Anti-virus and firewall protection applications may not stop this threat. Do not open any files with a filename ending in .tiff.

Here is an interesting blog entry from Harvard Business Review: When You're Innovating, Resist Looking for Solutions.  I have often found this to be true in most any aspect of life.  Taking time to properly analyze the situation will almost always lead to a better solution.  An example can be as simple as asking the customer what they are looking to accomplish vs. what are the looking to buy.  Often times what the customer perceived they wanted is significantly different from what they need.

Subject: 09 September 2013 - Local Number Service Interruption - Our telephone provider is currently experiencing a service interruption affecting some local numbers.

Details: At this time, you may be unable to reach us via our local number (815-986-7309).  You may get a busy signal or other unexpected message when you try to call us via our local number.

Technical Details: Our telephone provider is currently experiencing a service interruption affecting some local numbers. One of their underlying carriers is experiencing an issue which is affecting some of our local numbers.

They are working with the carrier to get things back up and running ASAP.

At this time, you may get a busy signal when trying to call us via our local number.  Our Toll free number (866-271-3876) is operating normally.

Updates will be posted as they become available.

Updates:

• 20130909 14:46 - This interruption is now resolved according to our telephone provider, but we're continuing to monitor for any recurrence.

We appreciate your patience during this outage and welcome any feedback. Thank you for being a ETRN customer. Please contact usif you have any questions.

Update: This issue had been resolved at of 10:30 AM. For users with E-Mail Hosting accounts on this system, the updated host names listed below are still recommended.

We are currently investigating an outage to our chi1.etrn.com data center.  Updates to follow as more information becomes available.

The problem has been resolved. Here is a timeline of events:

• 15:36 CDT: We detected problems reaching our chi1.etrn.com site.
• 15:40 CDT: Connectivity was restored and our investigation of the site status began.
• 16:30 CDT: Our investigation has determined that the outage was caused by a UPS that failed to provide backup power during a very brief power interruption.
• 17:00 CDT: We began moving system off of the problem UPS.
• 18:45 CDT: All systems are now powered on.
• 19:45 CDT: Manual file system checks and repairs have been completed. All systems are now online.
• 20:45 CDT: All system should be functioning normally now.

We appreciate your patience during this event and welcome any feedback. Thank you for being a ETRN customer. Please contact usif you have any questions.

Like you, we all mourn those who had their lives taken from them in Boston, and stand with those who were injured and affected by these vile deeds.