The e-mail-propagated computer virus SoBig infiltrated approximately 2,200 computers at UW-Madison and poses a major threat on campus but requires only minor efforts from students to eliminate and avoid, according to Sathish Gopalrao, assistant director of housing for information technology.
According to Annie Stunden, director of Division of Information Technology, the SoBig virus infects only computers operating with Windows software machines and without the latest version of virus protection.
\What happens when your machine is infected is it starts sending out e-mail to everybody it can find all over the world,"" she said.
While SoBig does not damage computers it infects, it does fill mailboxes to capacities and backs up mail systems, making users wait hours to receive otherwise instant e-mail.
To evade the virus or remove it from infected computers, Windows users can download an anti-virus packet from the UW-Madison network or obtain it on a disk by going to the DoIT Tech Store. Both options are free during the first week of school, but after that disks will cost approximately six dollars, according to Stunden.
Additionally, some computers come equipped with anti-virus protection programs that only require opening and updating, thus eliminating the 15-minute download time, Gopalrao said.
According to Gopalrao, updating to the latest version of virus protection is crucial.
""[Windows users] have got to set up their work stations to automatically fetch the updates on a daily basis,"" he said.
So far, anti-virus protection has succeeded in reducing the 2,200 infected computers on campus to only a few, Stunden said.
To keep the virus from spreading further and clogging up mail systems around campus, DoIT is considering removing windows users without anti-virus protection from the UW-Madison network.
SoBig has already caused problems to some students living in residence halls. However, technicians have disabled the virus by containing it to the particular floors it effected, Gopalrao said.
Conversely, computers in UW-Madison libraries have been basically unaffected by the virus because they are set to continuously arm themselves with the most current virus protection, according to Automation Assistance Manager Mitch Lundquist.
The particular strain of the SoBig virus that effected computers on campus expires Sept. 10, according to Gopalrao.
However, a new strain may arise after that time.
""We really can't anticipate what the next attack might be or the nature of the attack,"" Lundquist said.
In addition, Windows users should also download patches from the UW-Madison network to immunize their computers from the Internet-propagated Blaster worm, which can actually damage their machines, Stunden said.
