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Live! - News

News in Brief - 13/8/2003

Aug 13 2003 14:43
Nia Stevens
ICU Exec to be held on friday & IC computers hit by internet worm
"Aaaaaaargh" - Internet worm hits computers at IC

EXEC ON FRIDAY

Clearly eager to make progress IC President, Mustafa Arif has called an Exec meeting on Friday. Despite promises made to Live! only a week ago to improve communications between ICU and its membership, this meeting is not on the Union events calendar, nor the exec website. The proposed agenda includes revisions to the Ents budget and ICU presence at the NUS national demo. With only a limited number of the exec present at the time being it is hoped that the boundless enthusiasm of the new Exec doesn?t result in their making any rash decisions. The meeting will take place on Friday 15th August at 2pm.

IC HIT BY BLASTER WORM

PC users across IC have been affected by the Blaster Worm, a self-propagating computer virus that has recently been making its way across the internet, wreaking havoc in its wake. Soon after the first reporting of the worm on an IC computer, ICT shut their networks down to help prevent the virus from spreading. As a result email access has been restricted to web access and there is no access to shared drives. It is likely that these measures helped limit the spread of the virus since only 50-60 PCs out of a potential 1000s at IC have been affected.

There is an element of humour in all this though. The worm is said to contain the message ?billy gates why do you make this possible? Stop making money and fix your software?. This is in response to the fact that the virus (like most) only affects computers running Microsoft?s operating systems. The closest MS get to an ?apology? for this is a page on their website explaining (with relevant downloads) how to protect oneself against the worm or deal with it once it?s there. These recent events however serve as a reminder that intimate contact with others comes at the risk of contracting dangerous viruses.

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Discussion about “News in Brief - 13/8/2003”

The comments below are unmoderated submissions by Live! readers. The Editor accepts no liability for their content, nor for any offence caused by them. Any complaints should be directed to the Editor.
1. Sam   
Aug 13 2003 15:34
 

To be fair to Microsoft, the fixed this problem in a patch issued on June 16th 2003. Users have a little under 2 months to download the security fix via http://www.windowsupdate.com/

I can forgive ICT for not installing this fix on every machine in the college - that's a huge task given that not all departments are currently ICT managed. However to not install it on critical servers such as Exchange, Active Directory or DNS beggars belief.

Best advice for Internet Connected Windows machines it to update the security patches on your computer in a timely fashion, and consider enabling the Internet Connection Firewall on Windows XP, or installing a similar 3rd Party software firewall on other Microsoft operating systems.

Or you could migrate to Linux

Aug 13 2003 20:14
 

ICU Exec is a management team that makes recommendations on, and impelements, Union policy. It's primary task is to get on with the running of the Union. Whilst its an 'open' meeting it is not generally approproiate for mass advertising of its meetings (or indeed those of many other Union subcommittees). Though dates/times will be listed in the Union calenda when it is set and published for the year.

ICU Council is the policy making body of the Union and is the one to which general student involvement is desireable (and indeed necessary).

Aug 14 2003 15:55
 

Yet more evidence of why DoC and EEE's computers shouldn't be taken inside the ICT home.

4. simon   
Aug 14 2003 18:50
 

Our office was taken down by MSBlast today.

5. Nia   
Aug 14 2003 21:53
 

Fun isn't it? 3 people in my office got it. Unfortunately I seem to be unable to get rid of it on my pc :-( - the programs u can download don't seem to do the trick. So my PC is in internet quarantine (poor little soul) and I'm coming down to c&g for my internet-fix and email.

6. amram   
Aug 14 2003 22:07
 

Anyone seen the news about HUGE power cut across all the USA?

Could this be worm related or perhaps terror?

7. Nia   
Aug 14 2003 22:23
 

Intriging news indeed, young Amram. bbc report

My bet is in a minute someone'll walk on stage-left holding a big plug and looking a bit embarrassed.

Aug 14 2003 22:24
 

It looks like the Arabs handiwork again...

9. daz   
Aug 15 2003 15:40
 

We shouldn't really be too bothered about giant power cuts or random worms in the IC computers..

With all the present technical mumbo jumbo, problems will arise and problems will be fixed.. its just a matter of dealing with it efficiently.

It doesn't really matter whether its bombed out Bin Laden or hosed out Hussein or whoever for that matter who is the cause of all this as there is really nothing much we can do about it.

I'm just happy that I'm alive and my tv is working.

10. tom t   
Aug 15 2003 18:06
 

Couldn't help but notice the helpless culture of fear some of us (seem to) live in.

Power cut: must be terrorism!

No telly: practically death!

have any of you had a conversation with a human recently?????

11. amram   
Aug 16 2003 14:22
 

I do converse with humans but unfortunatel in this crime - ridden, polluted, logjam kengestion-charged town, one sometimes has to escape to the Televisual world or the wonders of live!

as to terrorists have you read today that Libya is admitting to all sorts of terrorism it carried out in the past including lockerbie and an attack at a german airport?

This does back up my point (albeir on an earlier thread) that Arab terrorism is directly, funded, trained and directed from the 22 capitals of these (falsely creeated and over large considering their negative contributions ) "states".

As to the worm, well it's plain jealousy, however the exorbitant prices and c**pply programmed software that Micrsosoft does produce does irritate one too!

12. daz   
Aug 18 2003 16:46
 

no telly doesn't mean death.. its just damn irritating, terrorist cause or not, just like power cuts and the tube delays(esp the circle line).

13. chris   
Aug 18 2003 19:32
 

Circle line? It took 45 minutes to get from South Ken to Knightsbridge the other day on the picidilly line

Closed This discussion is closed.

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