Hit hard by several fast-spreading computer viruses this time last year, an attack on the University computer network yesterday brought back memories of the trying days of cleaning up after the MS Blaster and Sobig.f viruses, officials say.
But this time the problem’s a little different, said Kent Strickland, information security officer with Information Technology Services.
“I think for the most part things are going pretty well virus wise,” he said. “The issues that we’re having this year are not by the viruses and worms going through computers. The problem is that we have a number of student systems that came into the network that were already comprised and some of them were vulnerable …”
Around 4 a.m. yesterday, staff with Information Technology Services found at least 15 computers in residence halls containing “back doors”–allowing hackers to control computers from a remote location– being used to attack a university in Sweden. Six of those computers were identified and removed from the network, giving these students no Internet access until their computer is cleaned.
To control the attack, officials disabled many student computers, reducing their ability to reach websites outside of the University network, Strickland said. All computers were back on the network by 10 a.m. yesterday.
Slow Internet service for students was regrettable, but officials had no choice, Strickland said.
“The rate of the traffic from our network was intense,” he said. “It was in a position to saturate the communication lines. We found some of the hardest attacking systems and disabled the blocks of the BGSU network to try to contain the attack.”
Technology officials know that there are more computers on campus capable of similar attacks because they’ve seen new codes being added to the compromised systems, Strickland said.
But finding these computers can be tricky and will take time, Strickland said.
“There are more compromised systems out there and we’re attempting to shut them down,” he said. “When they’re quite though, it’s like a needle in a hay stack.”
Call the Technology Support Center with questions at: 372-0999.
