I got spam from CI Host

B

BlackStorm

New member
Dear Hosting.com Customer:

Doesn't your web site deserve top-notch security and reliability? Don't you
want peace of mind knowing EXPERTS in the Internet industry are working hard
day and night to keep your web site and your confidential data secure and
safe? Then it's time to switch to C I Host. If you are looking to relocate
your web hosting services with a company who can provide more than just
basic features and services then please take a moment to view the C I Host's
robust web hosting offerings. With C I Host, your business benefits from
working with a global, multi-homed managed services provider for your
complete SECURE web hosting needs.

C I Host's hosting services deliver the technologies and expertise to help
your business succeed in today's rapidly changing environment. Our team of
hosting professionals can help you unlock the resources necessary to focus
on your core competencies, not your e-infrastructure.

With C I Host's web hosting services, your business benefits from a complete
menu of security products, complimentary features such as Visa/MC merchant
accounts, unlimited email addresses and unlimited transfer to complement and
enhance your hosting solution. Plus, you can choose to host your web site
in C I Host's state-of-the-art Data Centers in Dallas, Los Angeles and
Chicago with direct access to the world's fastest and most redundant
Internet providers in the world.

Industry leading Service Level Guarantees include:

-- 100% Power Availability
-- 99.9% Network Availability
-- Low Network Latency (40ms avg. in North America / 95ms avg. New York to
London)
-- Packet Delivery 99.9% or greater on C I Host's private web hosting
network

Call us to schedule a meeting to introduce you to C I Host's hosting
services and learn more about your current and future business needs. You
can learn more about C I Host's services logon at http://www.cihost.com

Outsourcing to C I Host saves you time AND money!

Special for all new C I Host Customers:

--Multiple, rock-solid Firewalls and exclusive Intrusion Detection
Systems (IDS)
--Emergency, Platinum setup windows open 24x7
--3 months free added to all of our hosting packages
--Personalized migration account representative - Executive Management
Personnel
--Data Center Tours 24x7 - Call and come by - 877-4CI-HOST
--C I Host financial statements provided upon request - WE ARE ROCK SOLID
AND WILL PROVE IT!

C I Host
T: 877-4CI-HOST
F: 888-242-7554
Email: sales@cihost.com
Web: www.cihost.com


-------------------------------------------

REPORTED MARCH 15, 2004 - HOSTING.COM CUSTOMERS' SECURITY BREACHED
-------------------------------------------

Hosting.com Reveals Breach, Cites Law

March 15, 2004 -- (WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) -- Prompted by a new California
state law, Hosting.com (hosting.com), a Web hosting and Internet service
division of Allegiance Telecom (algx.com), notified 4,000 hosting customers
of a security breach that resulted in their usernames and passwords being
exposed to the attacker(s), Security Focus reported late last week. The
intrusion took place on March 3, 2004.

The new law, which took effect last year on July 1, requires companies to
warn their customers of any security leak that exposes personal and critical
information. "Any agency that owns or licenses computerized data that
includes personal information shall disclose any breach of the security of
the system following discovery or notification of the breach in the security
of the data to any resident of California whose unencrypted personal
information was, or is reasonably believed to have been, acquired by an
unauthorized person," the law reads.

The company told Security Focus that the information exposed in the attack
was not covered by the law, but Jerry Ostergaard, spokesperson for
Allegiance Telecom, said that under the circumstances, notifying its
customers of a potential problem was the right thing to do. The perpetrator
reportedly accessed thousands of passwords to customer Web hosting accounts.
Allegiance Telecom said it was particularly concerned about the many
accounts running e-commerce operations.

Earlier last week, Allegiance Telecom, citing the new law, sent out a letter
to 200 customers reporting a security breach to an e-commerce server.
Ostergaard said the company is working to enhance security.
Click to expand...

I got this yesterday I think, I am not a hosting.com customer and never have been.
I dont know why I got this.

Has CI Host got something to do with hosting.com?
If not, why are they spamming hosting.com customers trying to get them to move?
 
They're just feeding on fear of data insecurities: send around a news article about servers got hacked, imply that only at C I Host will they never ever have to worry about things like this, and sit back and wait for the signups.

Fear of your personal information being stolen is a legitimate concern.

Fear that your web host's servers may be hacked is also a legitimate concern.

Switching away from some web hosts may minimise the chances of this happening to a person, but how is that person to know what hosts are safe(r), and how they're safer? C I Host is implying that they are, to mis-use a phrase, bullet-proof; and how is the average consumer to verify the claims either way?

C I Host is just pulling a page from the Microsoft book of business. If someone with technical knowhow knew exactly how to prove or disprove claims like this, then the vendor(s) using such tactics could be told by the US Government to stop making incorrect claims in advertising. As it is, they'd have to have the full details of what measures C I Host is taking, and then be able to compare those measures to those of other hosts'. Plus, you'll note: C I Host is not outright claiming that other hosts are not safe, or that they are. They're only *implying* it. His lawyer-mother could take the stance that since they're not making concrete absolute claims but implications, they're not using misleading advertising.

They're very very skilled at sophistry.
 
If CI host is in California then you could probally make a claim to the attorney general because CA has a anti-spam law now.
 
Lesli : are you are grammar / english teacher? Just wondering. You have very good sentence structure and grammar. I know this in completely off topic... but ready your last few posts made me think of this.
 
Lesli : are you are grammar / english teacher? Just wondering. You have very good sentence structure and grammar. I know this in completely off topic... but ready your last few posts made me think of this.
Click to expand...

haha I was thinking that exact same thing as I read her post!
Your grammar and english is very good.
Jon, Lesli has done a number of articles I have seen plus take a look at her site, http://www.scribehost.com/ which is hosting for writers.
I would be interested to know if you do writing as a professional Lesli, your posts are very thought provoking.

About your post..
I do think this is what they are doing, they have resorted to a lot of tactics which I totally disagree with to try get more clients recently.

I dont know if they will last much longer because of the lawsuits against them, plus the amount of money they are putting into lawsuits against other companies.

I think they have lost a lot of customers recently and are trying to use this tactic to get some more customers to recoup the money they have been losing
 
Good points, all. About C I Host, I mean. :D

I don't think that C I Host is going to topple any time soon because of all the lawsuits. They have been doing this for a few years now. It does get them publicity, and gets their name out there (sadly enough). They're not being the most upstanding company...but our current society doesn't seem to really give a tinker's damn about how straightforward or truthful a company (or a politician) is. You can get away with murder, as long as you observe the proper forms.

I'm not a professional writer, but I have done a bit of freelancing plus being a staffer at Pingzine. I do read. A lot. A *whole* lot, and all over the place. I just finished Chaos (James Gleick's summation of the history of chaos mathematics, very interesting stuff), and moved on to reread Time Travelers Strictly Cash (by Spider Robinson, science fiction / humour) because I needed something lighter and more whimsical after wrapping my brain around some of the equations in Chaos (which I tried to understand, then finally gave up and just stuck with understanding the concepts). I do have two other writers in my family, one of whom is now a seventh-grade teacher in Maine.
 
I know I wouldnt go with any host that sends email like C I Host is doing.
I have read a lot of bad things about them also, but people will always go with them like people go with 1 and 1 but people have a lot of bad experiences with them
 
It's something that lots of service companies have tried: since people are purchasing an intangible service as opposed to a tangible product, they have to market intangibles as well...like, feelings of sexual desirability (subscribe to our service and you'll have to beat them off with a stick), feelings of security (subscribe to our service and we'll personally come and keep the bogeyman away from your bedside), feelings of omnipotency (subscribe to our service and you'll suddenly be able to do anything at any time), and so forth. Politicians do the same thing.

Whether the benefits are genuine, false, or exaggerated, this is how some service-providers (web hosts, house cleaners, financial advisors, politicians, you name it) will market themselves and / or their brand. The three components are fear, myth, and habit. Once you've got people hooked on your service, unless you screw up egregiously, they're unlikely to leave - unless they know exactly what they need, in which case you may not have gotten them on board with the FUD factor in the first place.

It's not forthright, it's not accurate - but, again, they're selling intangibles. Things which can't be measured. They have no problem making these implied promises because they can't easily be disproven. In the event that someone challenges them on it, all that they have to say is "We didn't say that hosting with us would mean that the clients would never ever have their servers hacked." and that statement is absolutely true.

They're not nice, and it would be very very pleasant to have society at large wise up and neglect any company that did business in this manner. A whole boatload of companies would be forced to revise their operations, or go under entirely. Sadly, it's not overly likely to happen unless we take action - and it's difficult to take action without lowering ourselves to the level of companies that imply, misdirect, and shade the truth to get market share.

Ah, yes...and the spam aspect should earn them a vicious nasty rash that just will not go away.

(Vous, moi? Vindictive?)
 
I sent one of those before I took over some ones business, some replyed rudly. To bad they were ones that broke the AUP a few weeks later :D
 
hostingxnet said:
I ALWAYS receive mail from CI Host. It is quite annoying.
Click to expand...

Have you requested that they take you off their list? Hopefully you can do that or create some filters to block them. It's a shame that you have to go that far though to stop someone from emailing you.
 
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