UNM's central computer system has remained under attack from several viruses for most of the semester, and University officials say they are relying on diligence by community members to fight the problem.
Scott Parker, a technical support analyst at UNM's Computer Information Resources Technology Department, said unlike past viruses that had the ability to duplicate themselves once inside a computer system and infect an entire network, the Beagle and Netsky viruses are much less sophisticated.
Often hidden in e-mails, the virus waits for users of the infected computer to send e-mails to other users, thereby infecting their computers as well.
"A single computer can send out as many as 500 infected messages an hour," Parker said. "We've had more than 100 computers on campus affected with viruses every month this semester."
Parker said CIRT employees have had their hands full trying to keep on top of the virus situation.
Every time they design a program to block a certain virus, he said, computer hackers develop a variant.
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"What's left is a window of vulnerability, the time it takes computer decoders to write anti-virus programs that leave computer systems open to attack by these viruses," Parker said.
Parker said while CIRT is doing everything it can to keep the virus problems from slowing computer activity on campus, it is the UNM community that holds the power to stop the spread of the viruses.
"Never, ever trust an unsolicited e-mail as legitimate and open it," he said. "Viruses are often disguised as games or have clever titles such as 'hey, dude.' Unless you are sure about the message's legitimacy, don't open it."
Parker said computer hackers have become so clever at designing viruses that wreak havoc on computers that the new variations are able to use a technique called address spoofing.
Searching for e-mail addresses in an infected computer's address books, cached Web page and databases on a computer's hard drive, the viruses mail themselves out as if they were from one of the randomly chosen e-mail addresses, adding to their false legitimacy, Parker said.
Recipients of the rigged e-mails are often misled into opening them, having recognized the senders' address. Their computer is then infected, allowing the possibility of hundreds of more computers being affected through a virtual domino effect, Parker said.
Cathy Luther, a spokeswoman for CIRT, said she suggests computer users invest in anti-virus software, even if it is a cheaper version.
"The programs really do work and provide you with the peace of mind that your not sending infected e-mails to your friends and loved ones," she said.
Anti-virus programs are available through CIRT and at the UNM Bookstore. Luther said, though, that most computer programs have free downloadable versions of the programs.
"The University community needs to arm itself with the information to detect good e-mails from bad," Parker said. "It really is up to them to police their computer accounts to slow the spread of these viruses."
