The Office of Information Technology is trying to quickly respond to an increase in email traffic caused by the “MyDoom” virus, which is spreading rapidly through computer networks across the nation, IT director Jim Stone said Tuesday.
Virus-infected messages have plagued email accounts across Boston University, infecting computers through tainted attachments. As of Monday, BU had instituted a program to quell the quickly spreading bulk emails.
“At 8:00 last night, we put a filter in to block these emails,” Stone said. “We use the filter to try to contain it.”
Although Stone said he had not heard of any severe damage caused to computer systems, he stressed the need for students to recognize the emails and respond accordingly.
“We have not yet received news of any destructive activity,” Stone said. “If students are using Norton or McAfee, they should get the latest updates and scan their computers.”
The virus, also called ‘Novrag’ by antivirus companies like Symantec, has been hitting inboxes as an attachment in emails from normal addresses or in what appears to be undeliverable mail. It has succeeded in causing mass confusion because of its manipulation of email subject lines, Stone said.
“It’s causing a lot of confusion because people are receiving email from people they think are their friends,” he said. “People are getting a lot of messages that appear as undeliverable mail as well.”
College of General Studies sophomore Eric Tovell said he received a number of virus-infected emails Monday and Tuesday, but he did not get word from BU on how to deal with them.
“I’ve gotten seven emails with the virus attached,” he said. “I’m a little frustrated that the university hasn’t said anything about it, but that doesn’t surprise me.”
Although no permanent damage has been done to BU computers, Stone said the problem will take time to clear up.
“It definitely affected the BU systems but not in a way that prevented anyone from getting any work done,” Stone said. “It’s flooding people’s email accounts. It’s going to take several days for the affected machines to get cleaned up.”
Stone added that when left alone, the emails are harmless.
“Once students learn to recognize the erroneous email, they can just delete them,” he said.
The virus has caused further confusion for computer users worldwide because of its ability to manipulate attachments. While the attachments appear to be text files, they are actually viruses, according to reports from MSNBC.
The virus has caught national attention because of the alarming rate at which it has been spreading.
On Feb. 1, the virus is programmed to activate and begin performing what is called a “Denial of Service,” which prevents computer users from using their machines normally. It is believed that it will stop spreading on its own on Feb. 12, according to Symantec’s website.
The virus has been found in more than 150 countries and has been rated a four out of five by Symantec – one being a relatively small outbreak and five being an extremely widespread infection.
While Macintosh and Linux users will get the emails, the virus is unable to affect their systems, according to Symantec.
Stone said he is not worried about the state of BU systems, even though the virus has received national attention.
“It’s a typical virus. It’s happened before, it’ll happen again,” he said.
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