Virus Software Offers Some Protection, But Education Is Key

Matrix: The Magazine for Leaders in Education, Sept, 2000 by Stephanie Brenowitz

The easiest way for an intruder to get into a network is also the most preventable. Whether they are praksters or criminals, the fastest way for hackers to get past a firewall or other security measures is to send an infected e-mail.

In May, millions of e-mailers opened a benign looking message from a friend or a colleague stating "I LOVE YOU" as its subject. But the attachment was not a love letter--it was the Love Bug, a virus known as a worm that repeats and repeats until it gives your computer system--not to mention its administrator--a nervous breakdown.

A virus is a little computer program, often embedded in an e-mail message or sometimes on a floppy disk, which somehow alters the basic make-up of the computer. Though some are just pranks, other viruses do serious damage that can bring down an entire network or erase everything on your hard drive.

Many software products keep out unauthorized mailings. Virus protection, firewalls, and do-it-yourself remedies block certain senders of junk e-mail known as spam. But the software can only go so far. The Love Bug was so effective because it took advantage of a simple human error to get past the protections: The worm was not active until the user opened the attachment. Then it jumped into the address book and sent itself to all the user's contacts, endlessly replicating itself.

After last year's Melissa virus, many schools warned their users not to open attachments if they didn't know what they were. But that didn't stop thousands from getting infected by the Love Bug. "Security is often not about technology," Randy Marchany, senior engineer at Virginia Tech, said. "It's about education and training."

Marchany's education effort includes handing out a computer set-up CD to every new user and employee. The CD hooks up an e-mail program, and installs the latest anti-viral software. It also instructs the user not to open unsolicited attachments and describes how to recognize a virus attack.

On his CD, as well as his information site, http://www. antivirus.vt.edu, Marchany includes one of the best-known anti-viral software utilities: Norton AntiVirus, produced by Symantec. Whether the virus comes in on e-mail, floppy disk, downloading from the Internet, or a network drive, the software searches for viruses that insert destructive programs onto computers or that steal passwords.

Other top choices are McAfee VirusScan and Panda Antivirus, which also get good reviews from administrators.

However, virus protection software only guards against the known problems. To stay on top of the latest infection news, go to sites such as http://www.securityfocus.com, or subscribe to virus alerts at http://zdnet.com and http://www.cnet.com. Sites for regular software or virus-protection software should also keep you updated about the latest virus information.

Stephanie Brenowitz is a staff writer for the Columbus Dispatch in Ohio. She has also written about education for the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Hartford Courant.