By Heather Herzog, Computer & Information Systems
As computer viruses pose an increasing threat to scholarly and administrative activities today, technology experts urge that obtaining and using effective virus detection software is critical for members of the higher education community. To help ensure that anti-virus software is available and affordable for computer users at Penn State, the Center for Academic Computing (CAC) recently obtained permission for students, faculty, and staff to have free access to a virus detection/removal program produced by Computer Associates (CA). The software, called InoculateIT Personal Edition (IPE), can be downloaded from CA at http://antivirus.cai.com/ on the Web.
A leading electronic business software developer, CA is currently offering InoculateIT as "freeware," requiring only that individuals register for the program before they download it to their computers. The software is designed for Windows (TM) 9X/NT/2000 systems and contains a profile of current viruses (and other hostile code) that is updated twice a week free of charge by the company.
According to Jim Kerlin, deputy senior director, CAC, the concern about the damage viruses can inflict at Penn State is growing, as more and more students acquire and use computers for a range of activities including chatting with friends, submitting papers, and conducting research. "New viruses appear at the rate of about three to four each month," he noted, "so you can't rely on anti-virus software that isn't updated on a regular basis. We recommend that computer owners use InoculateIT, or another equally effective product, to perform frequent virus 'signature file' updates (monthly or more) in order to ensure they're protected."
CAC experts evaluated the CA software before the Penn State/CA agreement was made, added Kerlin, to make sure it offered easy installation, high-quality protection, and reliable technical support. At this time, the company does not provide a comparable version of the InoculateIT software for Macintosh users, but Mac owners are encouraged to obtain the leading detection products available at the Microcomputer Order Center (see http://moc.cac.psu.edu/ on the Web).
Another significant ability of InoculateIT is that it is able to check e-mail attachments, an essential capability to look for in all virus detection tools, according to Steve Pierce (manager of the Willard Help Desk), since viruses are increasingly network-based. In an article released in May this year, CNET reported that a substantial number of all e-mails that are received by businesses have infected attachments. The report also stated that the recent onslaught of attachment-based viruses and other hostile code has been extremely costly for institutions and businesses. For example, "Melissa" extracted a price tag of about 80 million, and damages inflicted by the highly publicized "Love Bug" were in the billions (http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1003-200-1814907.html?tag=st.ne.1005-203-2167152..ni).
To ensure that you're adequately protected from
cyber pests like these (and others), the CAC offers a list of guidelines
for students, faculty and staff at:
http://cac.psu.edu/infotech/virus.html
Key recommendations include:
The following Web pages offer anti-virus software evaluation resources and reliable information about current computer and network virus attacks:
Penn State's Virus Information:
http://cac.psu.edu/infotech/virus.html
CERT--Software Engineering, Research, and Testing:
http://www.cert.org/advisories/
ICSA--Internet Security and Assurance:
http://www.icsa.net/html/communities/antivirus/lab/
NIST--National Institutes of Standards Technology:
http://www.metro.ch/avpve/
Virus Bulletin:
http://www.virusbtn.com/
For more details on how to download and use InoculateIT please see http://ftp.cac.psu.edu/pub/ger/documents/virus.htm or contact the Center for Academic Computing Help Desks by calling (814) 863-1035 or by sending e-mail to helpdesk@psu.edu.
