Subject: Computer Viruses & Network Access
Date: Tue, 25 Sep 2001 20:40:32 -0400
From: Housing <univhous@andrew.cmu.edu>
To: <All-Residents@wgs.housing.cmu.edu>
Dear Housing Residents:
Due to the recent rash of computer viruses infecting both servers and
personal workstations, we feel it necessary to warn everyone about the
threat.
These viruses often use your machine as a launching ground for attacks
on other machines across the internet. Additionally a virus can watch
your internet usage, and send itself to everyone in your address book or
anyone you have recently written email to. A machine that has been
infected or compromised by a virus is not only a security threat to
other computers, the traffic generated by the attacks it launches can be
detrimental to the network the computer is on. Due to the severity of
the threat, action must be taken.
ETHERNET CONNECTED RESIDENTS
If you live in a campus residence that has direct ethernet (all campus
locations as well as Shirley, Marybelle and Shady Oak), the response to an
infected machine is determined by Computing Services. When they discover
that a machine has become infected, they suspend that machine from the
network. Usually they will also e-mail you and inform you of what has
happened to the machine. If your computer suddenly loses its network
connectivity, and you cannot access your email, you can still find out
what has happened by calling the Computing Services Help Desk at 8-HELP.
The Help Desk can assist you in removing the virus, patching your
computer against further attacks of the same kind, and can also assist
you in getting your machine reactivated on the campus network.
OAKLAND COMMUNITY DSL SUBSCRIBERS
If you live in the Oakland Apartments that are serviced by Telerama DSL,
the guidelines are the same, however you will be given a 1-hour advance
notice before being suspended from their network service. If Telerama
discovers that you have been infected with a virus and they need to
remove you from the network, they will attempt to call you to inform you
of the situation. They will either speak with you or leave a voice mail
outlining the situation and direct you to the Computing Services Help
Desk (8-HELP) for assistance in removing the virus. Please note that
Telerama is NOT able to assist you in the virus removal, you should
contact Computing Services Help Desk to do that. Once you have
successfully removed the virus, you will need to call Telerama back at
412-688-3200 and ask them to reactivate your computer on their network.
The Computing Services Help Desk is NOT able to reactivate your machine,
and until you call Telerama you will still not be able to get back onto the
internet.
ALL RESIDENTS
Here are some steps you can take to try and avoid becoming infected with
a virus:
1) If you are using Microsoft Windows, try and stay up to date with
their "Critical Updates". These updates can be downloaded and
installed for you automatically by visiting their website at:
http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com They will then lead you through
downloading the patches. You MUST be using Internet Explorer to
access this site.
2) Update your Virus scanner on at least a weekly basis. If you do not
have a virus scanner, you can download Norton Antivirus from the
Carnegie Mellon WebDist site by going to:
http://www.cmu.edu/computing/myandrew and clicking on any of the
options under "My Software". To download software from this site,
you must be running Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator.
Additionally, you must have installed KClient and KWeb. You can
download KClient and Kweb from that web site. If you have any trouble
installing Norton Antivirus, KClient or KWeb, please call the help desk.
3) Do not open any strange file attachments. If you don't know who the
sender is, or what the attachment is, you are better off not opening it.
4) Do not go to any websites you receive in an e-mail. The new breed of
viruses can travel from an infected web browser to your machine, and
then from your machine to a non-infected web server.
If you have any further questions about viruses and the network, the
Computing Services Help Desk is the best resource to answer your questions.
Thank you.
Wayne Popinski
Information and Technology Assistant
Housing Services
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