ITC officials have stepped up computer security at the University after numerous students have received e-mails containing viruses. Upon opening the e-mail with the subject line "Account Alert" from admin@virginia.edu, students find either an attachment or a link, both of which contain a virus.
"There a couple of different viruses in circulation," said Shirley Payne, director for security coordination and policy. "One variation of it comes with an attachment. The attachments are being blocked by our e-mail system, except for one particular type of attachment that we can't block because it is usually legitimate. There is another variation that is coming with a link to a URL. If people click on that link, we are blocking their access out to the Internet out on that so that they don't get the malware that is there."
Problems may occur, however, if a student's virus definitions are not up to date, Instructional Technology Manager John Alexander said. Students can update their virus definitions for free by going to the ITC Web site, Alexander said.
"Hopefully, [students] are current on their virus definitions," Alexander said. "If they are current then there should be no problem. If they are not, they should get online and download the latest virus definitions."
If a student is not online, however, he or she cannot download the virus definitions, Alexander noted. In that case, he said students should contact their computing advisor in their dormitories who can download the virus definitions and burn them onto a CD.
Payne said ITC does not know who spread the virus, but the virus did not originate at the University.
"There are always viruses circulating on the Internet, and in many cases the authorities are not able to track down who started them," Payne said. "Every once in a while, someone is caught for it, but that happens rarely."
Students should not be worried about using Toolkit, Alexander said.
"[The U.Va. servers] are very safe," Alexander said. "This virus doesn't just attack Toolkit accounts. It attacks any virginia.edu domains, so it's not just targeted at that domain."
In response to numerous concerns about the viruses, ITC has posted information about them on its Web site. Payne suggested students visit www.itc.virginia.edu for more information.
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