UW-Madison addresses computer viruses

UW–Madison is experiencing serious problems with the “SoBIG” email virus and has taken multiple steps to contain the problem.

The virus, which has spread across the United States this week, has infected approximately 2,200 computers on campus. In addition, the virus has affected normal email operations for all users.

There are more than 60,000 computers on campus, in addition to thousands more that are owned by faculty, staff and students.

The university already had extensive virus protection in place, and responded within minutes of the detection of this latest virus problem. The Division of Information Technology has launched a wide-ranging information campaign to diagnose infected machines, repair those that have been affected and prevent any reoccurrence of the problem.

“The virus is spread via email, and once it has infected a computer, it takes over the computer’s email and sends out mass mailings without the user’s knowledge, infecting other computers,” says Annie Stunden, chief information officer and director of DoIT.

To further contain the spread of the virus, DoIT needs the cooperation of all campus users, Stunden says. The steps all campus users need to take are as follows:

• All student, faculty and staff users need to download new anti-virus software, linked from the “What’s New” item on the My UW Portal homepage, or get a copy from their departmental technical support staff. Free CD-ROMs with the software can also be obtained through the DoIT Tech Store, 1210 W. Dayton St. The store is open Monday through Friday 7:45 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
• For arriving students in University Residence Halls, ResNet access will be unavailable until Friday, Aug. 22. Students will receive CD-ROMs with antivirus software and instructions on its use upon their arrival in residence halls. The software must be installed before connecting to email.
• Machines that continue to propagate the virus may be disconnected from the campus network.
• UW-Madison users who dial-in to the system from off-campus using modems will be unable to do so until Thursday afternoon.
• UW-Madison users who continue to have questions after following the directions above should visit the DoIT homepage or call the DoIT Helpdesk at (608) 264-HELP.