April 2005 — Applications

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Dominican U. Secures Network to Protect Students and Faculty

By Jackson Ratcliffe

Worms, viruses, spyware and other malicious code are a rapidly growing problem. According to computer industry associations, major viruses such as Sasser are costing companies, individuals and educational institutions worldwide billions of dollars annually. Considering this type of damaging code hits computer networks a few times a year, it represents a significant drain on productivity as well as an unnecessary expense.

While worms and viruses are dangerous enough, spyware can cause even more damage. Spyware is code that is downloaded after a user hits the “I agree” button at the end of a long list of tiny type when downloading instant messaging or other free applications. The software transmits information back to individuals or companies about users’ Web surfing activities, resulting in pop-up ads and other productivity hindrances. Spyware is difficult to remove and can be used to log keystrokes to steal valuable information. Where a worm or virus deposits only a handful of files in a computer and makes minimal changes to a registry, spyware deposits hundreds of files and can make thousands of changes to a registry.

Dealing With Threats

At Dominican University of California, we deal with all three of these threats to privacy and security. Like many schools, we are continually hit with worms and viruses, including especially damaging ones like the Blaster worm. In 2003, the Blaster worm hit us like a plague. Since Blaster infiltrates the network, it affected all of our Windows XP, NT, 2000 and Server 2003 systems. It eventually took down our network, requiring hours to get the system up and running again.

Currently, the effort to protect users from viruses, worms and spyware falls on the shoulders of IT administrators. But based on the ubiquity of this threat, we’ve come to the conclusion that we in IT can’t do it alone. If these threats are to be beaten - and they must if we’re going to maintain an open, productive computing environment - other groups must step into the arena along with us. We recommend the following three-part process for dealing with malicious code: education, protection and regulation.

Education. Computer users are, and will remain, the first line of defense against malicious code. Viruses and worms are transmitted through e-mail, so it’s essential that students and others are aware of what e-mail likely contains and recognize those that are suspicious. Given the media coverage of worms and viruses, awareness of suspicious e-mail is very high. Unfortunately, most users don’t know about spyware and how it winds up on their hard drives. Companies that distribute adware and other legal spyware have a responsibility to clearly explain what these applications are and when they will be downloaded along with instant messaging and other applications. More importantly, companies have a responsibility to include “uninstall utilities” with clear instructions on how to use them. If companies or industry associations cannot regulate themselves in this area, it may require government action.

Protection. There are powerful applications to protect the computer network. At Dominican, we use Total Traffic Control (TTC) v5.0 from Lightspeed Systems (