New anti-virus software will block infections on the student e-mail server.
Christopher Terbrueggen
Daily Staff Writer
Students are having to pay closer attention to e-mails and attachments they receive over the Internet because of the recent outbreak of viruses.
Since Aug. 12, Information Technology has detected approximately 36,000 infected messages trying to spread viruses on students' computers through OU's e-mail system, said Matthew Singleton, director of engineering computer services.
OU just implemented an anti-virus program for the student e-mail system at email.ou.edu, said Singleton. The system scans every e-mail, looking for infected attachments. When the anti-virus program finds an infected attachment, it will delete it and replace it with a statement that says the attachment for the e-mail was infected and subsequently cleaned.
"The anti-virus solution has been highly effective in reducing the number of e-mail-borne viruses on campus," Singleton said. "However, many of the latest worms are propagating through open ports on machines, exploiting weak passwords and infecting open shares."
Open ports and shares on a computer are the doorways into the system, such as a wireless, dial-up or ethernet connection.
The system has been cleansed of about 35,000 of the 36,000 infected message attachments received, Singleton said. OU's student e-mail program is averaging 1,500 attachments a day that are being cleaned and blocked.
Since the new anti-virus software is not perfect, many viruses can still show up in student's e-mails.
Aimee Romain, interior design senior, said her home computer and work computer are infected with viruses. She said she got the Admin virus and the Sobig virus that disguised itself as a "Re: Approved" attachment.
"I stated getting them a week before school started when I was in Dallas," said Romain, who is also a student clerk in the School of Drama. "I use Sin@ou.edu. When I got back to OU, I learned about the viruses, and I deleted them. [Viruses] had infected my computer at work in the School in Drama. I can't get on the Internet."
Singleton said several students have been getting e-mails from sin.ou.edu. That is another virus that is going around. The e-mail matches up its address with the local network address. The e-mail says "your account is being deactivated please see the attachment."
"While OU is cleaning the attachments, these e-mails were coming through up until last week, which was annoying for people because they were ending up with 50 e-mails from admin@ou.edu," Singleton said. "We since blocked that address. It cannot send on the campus anymore. So you will not see it anymore."
He said universities across the US are experiencing similar issues and challenges with security and OU is using this situation as an opportunity to educate its computer users about the importance of personal online security and timely updates.
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