Report Abuse

While the university strives to provide an open and collaborative computing environment, there are policies defining appropriate use of the UT network and computing resources. To sustain a reliable and efficient computing and networking infrastructure, all those associated with the university have a responsibility to be “Good Citizens” of the UT computing and network community. As such, users are requested to report any instances of abuse they have observed concerning any device connected to the UT network. Abuse applies to cases in which any person utilizes the university information systems infrastructure that he/she may or may not be authorized to use in a manner that does not adhere to the Acceptable Use of Information Technology Resources (UT Policy IT0110)​.

Examples of abuse include, but are not limited to: ​

  • Excessive bandwidth use for a non-university-related task
  • Chain letters/pyramid schemes originating inside UT network
  • SpamCop violations/unsolicited adult content

Where to report abuse:

When reporting abuse, provide the following:

  • Your full name
  • Your NetID (If you are affiliated with The University of Tennessee)
  • Your affiliation (Faculty, Staff, Student, etc.)
  • A phone number or e-mail address for contacting you, if you require a response
  • The type of abuse (SPAM, adult content, bandwidth abuse, etc.)
  • The IP name of the attacking system, if appropriate

In addition to the above information, it is extremely helpful to include:

  • Full messa​ge headers
  • System logs
  • Date and/or time of abuse

When reporting abuse, please remember the following:

  • We cannot act on instances of abuse that originate outside the university. If you receive SPAM or offensive material from an address that is not in the university domain (such as Yahoo, Gmail, AOL, or even another university) you will need to contact the entity at the company/university to report the abuse.
  • If at all possible, please provide IP names. Most modern networks, including much of the UT network, use dynamic IP addressing. That means that the system that had the address 1.2.3.4 yesterday, may not be the same system that has it today, as IP addresses can change association periodically. If you are unable to determine the IP name of a system, please provide any other information you can find about the system or the offense. The date and time (be as exact as possible) or an IP address is extremely helpful in this regard.