Why an Internet policy?

Because of the increasingly frequent occurrence of virus attacks and unsolicited mass mailings (SPAM) on the Internet, it is imperative that we should examine the Ministry’s incoming e-mails to ensure that they are bona fide and admissible and that we should refuse to receive them if they are not.

So that e-mail communication with the Federal Ministry for Transport, Innovation and Technology (BMVIT) can continue to be guaranteed, the following information has been compiled. Under the e-Government Act, the Ministry has an obligation to indicate on its website which file formats it processes and can therefore accept. A file format is the way data is arranged in an electronic file. Moreover, the file formats that cannot be accepted because of the Ministry’s internal security policy are also listed on the website.

The purpose of this information is to inform the Ministry’s correspondents of the file formats it accepts.

Accepted file formats

The following file formats are accepted by the Ministry. Files created with later program versions are also acceptable.

Wherever possible, the A4 paper size (297 mm long by 210 mm wide) should be used.

In view of the penetration of the market by Microsoft Office formats, the Ministry has included them in the list of accepted formats. We must point out, however, that Microsoft Office formats may contain macro viruses; in the event of such a virus being detected, incoming documents may be deleted.

Explanation about listing

MIME type:
This is an encoding standard that determines the structure and format of e-mails and other Internet messages. This standard enables both senders and recipients to recognise the data type of a file (a Word document, for example).

Unacceptable file formats

Attachments that might contain the following executable programs are deleted as a matter of course at the Internet/e-mail gateway of the Federal Ministry of Transport, Innovation and Technology. File formats are recognisable by the extension after the file name. Files with the following extensions are not accepted:

Advice on the right way to compose and send e-mails:

So that the recipient of your e-mail in the Ministry has no reason to doubt whether your e-mail is bona fide and acceptable, the Ministry provides the following recommendations for the proper transmission of e-mails:

Use a meaningful and informative heading in your subject line. Adopt a polite and friendly tone towards your correspondent and avoid rude or polemical comments, insults and ambiguous remarks. Staff will endeavour to deal with your concerns as quickly as possible. In consideration of the other mail received by the Ministry, however, we cannot give priority to electronic mail. For this reason, we regret that it is not possible for us to respond immediately. If you do not know who is responsible for  the subject of your enquiry, it is best to use the mailboxes of the Ministry’s dirvisions or to phone the Ministry’s public helpline on 0800 21 53 59 (all calls charged at local rates). The addresses of the divisional mailboxes are listed at the end of these notes. 

Write the content of your e-mail in the message box. Separate programs such as WinWord should not be used to compose e-mails unless you are sending a copy of a document which is already in the format in question or a document which is to be processed in that format. It is advisable not to leave the message box empty but to enter at least a reference to the attachment or attachments you are sending with your e-mail.

Do not use self-unpacking archives when sending files. This would compel the recipient to open unknown programs. In any case, these archives are deleted as a matter of course at the Ministry’s Internet/e-mail gateway.

Sending prank software serves no useful purpose and may distress recipients.

The Ministry urges e-mail users not to forward chain letters and hoax e-mails but to delete them. Even requests for help, such as calls for bone-marrow donors, have turned out in the past to be nothing but hoaxes or chain letters in disguise. At the end of these notes, the Ministry has inserted a link to the information centre on hoaxes at the Technical University of Berlin. The centre maintains an up-to-date list of known chain letters and prank software.

The total size of an e-mail plus attachments must not exceed ten megabytes (10 MB).

If you have to send an e-mail with file formats that do not appear on the list of acceptable formats, please contact Division 2 (Communications) of the Chief Executive’s Department beforehand at  webmistress@bmvit.gv.at.