ITC Announcement/Fall 2004 Virus & Network Use Update for Faculty and Staff from CIO

August 24, 2004

To: All Deans and Department Heads at U.Va.

At ITC and the Office of Information Technologies, we look forward to working with your faculty and staff again this fall.

To make everyone's computing experience as productive and trouble free as possible this year, we have formulated a short list of steps each network user should perform immediately. I now need your help in disseminating that guidance and encouraging action on it. These steps are necessary to avoid the sorts of difficulties that arose last year as a result of rapidly-spreading Internet worms and viruses.

If computers in your department are centrally managed (by, for example, Health Systems Computing Services) or your department is supported by a Local Support Partner (LSP), you should check with them before taking any of the actions listed below. Otherwise, please ask each faculty and staff member to perform the steps on this list as soon as possible. In the case of faculty who are away from the University for an extended period of time, please ask them to follow this list immediately upon connecting to the network when they return.

Thank you for helping us maintain a safe and reliable computing environment for the U.Va. community.

Sincerely,
Robert E. Reynolds, M.D.
Vice President and Chief Information Officer

If your computer is centrally managed (by, for example, Health Systems Computing Services) or your department is supported by a Local Support Partner (LSP), you should check with them before taking any of the actions below.

  1. If you are a Windows XP user, immediately upon connecting to the network you should enable a firewall that is appropriate for you. A firewall is a program that filters out unsolicited traffic (potential hackers) from the Internet to your computer. To determine how to configure your firewall, go to http://www.itc.virginia.edu/desktop/firewall.html.
  2. Then, immediately update your operating system. One easy way to automate that process, for University-owned machines, is to subscribe to the FREE ITC patch management service for Windows 2000 or Windows XP. Find more information about the service at http://www.itc.virginia.edu/microsys/patchmanagement.html. Any user who cannot use the University patch management service should visit the website for the vendor of their operating system. Recent Windows OS versions can be updated at http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com, where you will also find instructions for automating the update process. Mac OS X can be updated by selecting "Software Update" from the Apple menu.

    Note: The Service Pack 2 (SP2) update for Windows XP will be released Wednesday, August 25th. Before installing the update, please read through the important information at http://www.itc.virginia.edu/desktop/winxpsp2.html.

  3. Make sure you have anti-virus software installed on your computer, and your virus definitions are up to date. Symantec's Norton AntiVirus is free to all U.Va. employees for the duration of their employment at the University. You can download Norton AntiVirus from http://www.itc.virginia.edu/central. Learn how to enable regular automatic updating at http://www.itc.virginia.edu/desktop/docs/navdoc/#liveupdate. And remember: Don't open email attachments unless you are expecting them from the sender.
  4. Update your applications. Hackers are often able to gain access to computers remotely by exploiting flaws in application programs like Web browsers, email clients, and the Microsoft Office suite. You should check your software manufacturers' websites regularly to see if free security patches exist.
  5. If you have not already done so, register your computer on the U.Va. network, using the web form at https://web.virginia.edu/microsys/register/. It's fast, it's easy, and it provides essential information we can use to locate and troubleshoot network problems as they occur.

    Posted 08/25/04

© 2008 by the Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia.

The information contained on the University of Virginia’s Department of Information Technology and Communication (ITC) website is provided as a public service with the understanding that ITC makes no representations or warranties, either expressed or implied, concerning the accuracy, completeness, reliability or suitability of the information, including warrantees of title, non-infringement of copyright or patent rights of others. These pages are expected to represent the University of Virginia community and the State of Virginia in a professional manner in accordance with the University of Virginia’s Computing Policies.