Computer viruses and worms at WPI?

Computer viruses (or worms) make their rounds every so often. WPI was hit with two email viruses/worms just recently. Luckily, the CCC staff was able to stop the spread before too much damage was done. Today's viruses and worms are becoming quite nasty in terms of their annoyance or destruction. One may wonder what forms of protection a school like WPI has in place to protect its community against the spread of a worm or virus. But first, people must understand how these nasty little programs make their way into WPI's computer systems.

How can viruses travel from an infected computer to another computer? Initially, viruses are spread by using an infected floppy. For example, an infected Microsoft Word file stored on a floppy contains a destructive or annoying program in the form of a macro or virtual basic script (tools that pre-record commands). When a human opens the file, the macro or VB script is executed by the computer, erasing files on your hard drive or inserting annoying text into the file. To counteract these kinds of viruses, software vendors build into their programs alerts that warn a person that they are opening a potentially infected file. In addition to floppies, viruses also travel from computer to computer via email attachments.

Just as any beneficial technology evolves, these forms of "destructive" technology evolve. Today, worms travel via a Windows-based email client. Unlike viruses, worms don't need a human to spread. A worm is a destructive program designed to copy itself over a network through a variety of mechanisms, including email. They are much harder to control because they spread rapidly. WPI has filters in place on our two systems that handle incoming email. On one system, the filter detects if a virus is contained within an attachment or if a message contains a worm. When it finds the infected message, the virus attachment or worm is stripped from the message and replaced with an alert.txt file. On another system, the filter examines the subject of the message containing the virus or worm. The infected message, once detected, is blocked from being sent further. Both methods help to greatly reduce the spread of viruses or worms traveling throughout WPI's email systems. But WPI's "system-level" protection can't always catch every virus or worm.That's a brief explanation about what we do to protect against viruses and worms. What can you do to further protect your computer and your files? Another layer of protection is using a virus detection program like McAfee. Here at WPI, we have a site license for McAfee (see the URL below for helpdesk to get directions for installing). More important than any program, however, is common sense. If received a message is from someone you have not heard from on a regular basis, don't just open the attachment without taking a closer look first. Even if a message is from a friend, be cautious when opening attachments. Take a close look at the file name and file type. Many of these worms and viruses are configured to spread to others through local address books or contacts. Anyone can receive an infected message from a friend. Friends are not malicious. They're just not cautious. Be as diligent about virus protection as we are!

To learn more about viruses, worms and hoaxes as well as understand WPI's protective measures in place, join me in a training workshop to be held on Thursday March 2nd, from 2:00-4:00 p.m. Register at http://www.wpi.edu/+CCC/Training (click the schedule/register link). Also, the helpdesk web pages contain a wealth of information and hotlinks. Check them out at http://www.wpi.edu/+CCC/Help.