John
Stevens, Virus Detective
(CONTINUED)
I
can imagine Humphrey Bogart saying something like, “This
kind of misery could have been avoided, kid. If only everyone
would take a few simple precautions and log off of their computer
at night, nobody’s machine would become a breeding ground
for these nasty little viruses.”
John
might have said that, but he was busy running in and out of my
office as other messages arrived, telling me I had tried to infect
another computer. Of course, I had no clue who these people were.
I
was framed. By a virus.
Later,
I learned our offender was an “old-fashioned” virus
that transforms a computer into an e-mail machine to send messages
containing the virus to tons of people. Each message is sent as
an impostor, pretending to be from a different person in the host
computer’s e-mail inbox. The infected computer sent the
message in my name.
The
company UWT uses to protect against viruses actually sent software
to campus that morning to inoculate against this very bug, which
is why it didn’t create more havoc. A high-tech guardian,
a software program, sends such software vaccines to each computer
on campus, but the programs can be installed only when a user
logs on. If you don’t log off at night, it can’t protect
you. Log off and leave the computer running, and your computer
will be inoculated when you log back on.
Back
in my inbox, another message arrived from TCC saying I had tried
to infect somebody. I notified John and his cronies in Computer
Services. The latest message contained no new clues. But they
had narrowed the infected computer’s location to one building
and were preparing a S.W.A.T.-style operation to test every computer
there.
Then,
pay dirt. A message in someone else’s computer contained
a code that fingered the very computer that originally sent the
virus. Computer Services broke down the door to the office—figuratively—and
quickly deleted the bug.
“We
were in pretty good shape and had only three incidences when this
virus hit,” said Forrest Tyree, who manages Computer Services
for UWT. “We’ve been trying to convince people on
campus to leave their computer on and log off when they’re
done working. The latest virus protection is downloaded into your
computer when you log on. Unfortunately, we’ve had some
trouble getting everyone to log off.”
Usually,
updates for viruses arrive every week or so, but in the wake of
the much publicized “blaster virus,” computer network
technicians across the country have been on high alert.
“The
last few weeks, we’ve been getting updates every day,”
says Tyree.
>
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