The entire Internet was infected, yesterday, with a new virus called "Nimda." Read this note for details on coping with the virus...
The main symptom of this virus is a large increase in “chatter” from machine to machine. This “chatter” has the effect of
slowing down communication on the Internet and communication via e-mail until each network is overwhelmed and comes to a halt. Elon was infected like most other users of the Internet in the United States.
One of the insidious side effects of this virus is that a machine’s
hard drive, after infection, is susceptible to being shared by
unauthorized persons either on or off the campus. Therefore, if you have confidential material on your hard drive you may want to disconnect your computer from the network by disconnecting your Ethernet cable from your computer. Alternatively, you may save all
confidential files to a removable disk and then delete these files from your computer. Also, you may call PC Support for assistance in this.
Recovery efforts are underway. Currently, a machine can be cleaned, yet immediately reinfected. As today goes by and into tomorrow better
virus cleaning methods will be released and a “vaccination” against future infections will be developed by the anti-virus companies.
Our web site is, as of yet, uninfected and our administrative software
(Datatel) is unaffected.
Recommendations:
· Use the Internet and e-mail sparingly, if at all, to keep from
spreading or reinfecting other machines.
· If you will not be using your machine for an hour or more,
please shut your machine off so as to not spread “chatter.”
· Stay alert to new postings on E-net and internal emails in
which progress will be reported.