By Marc Stevens
Last week''s national outbreak of the 'Code Red' Internet bug is raising awareness of computer viruses at BYU, especially after e-mail users on campus received variations of the SirCam virus.
According to the McAfee Software Web site, the SirCam virus is an infection that is spread to e-mail recipients using addresses found in address books and cache files.
E-mail users on campus have received messages that include a form of the SirCam virus. The messages carry attachments with names such as 'Go Forth to Serve' and 'Bridges Being Burned.'
According to the Symantec AntiVirus Research Center, the messages may begin with the line 'I send you this file in order to have your advice' or 'This is the file with the information that you asked for.'
David Orton, manager of customer relations at BYU''s Office of Information Technology, said these new viruses do not pose a serious threat to the university''s computer system.
'With the recent outbreaks of SirCam and Code Red, BYU servers have remained relatively unaffected because of virus protection and early notification amongst the technical staff,' Orton said.
But even with the protective measures in place at BYU, Orton said students and staff should continue to take all necessary precautions.
'The Office of Information Technology stresses the importance of personal responsibility in installing the appropriate protection software on individual workstations,' Orton said.
The Office of IT asks all university employees to ensure their virus software is updated on a regular basis. The office also warns that a virus protection package installed on a server may not be enough.
If an individual machine is infected, it is still possible for that virus to store corrupted files or delete files, including other users'' files, on that server.
According to the Office of IT, a user with an infected workstation can cause harm to others on that server as well as the entire campus by opening or sending an infected e-mail message.
The office also recommends the campus community be aware of false virus warnings, hoaxes, chain letters, rumors and pyramid schemes sent via e-mail.
The Office of IT suggests that users verify the validity of these types of messages before taking any action such as opening or forwarding the message.