Recent media reports have raised questions about the severity of a computer virus referred to as the Conficker worm (also known as Downadup). It is unclear as to exactly what kind of problems this virus might create but April 1 has been given as the date when this worm might become active. The worm has existed in a couple of forms for a number of months and exploits a vulnerability in the Microsoft Windows operating system. Microsoft did release a patch in October 2008 to correct this vulnerability. Actions this virus might attempt include installing rogue software, propagating itself to other computers, and generating large amounts of traffic in an attempt to crash a network or web site, and attempting to obtain sensitive data such as financial information from a computer. All indications are that this worm only infects computers running the Microsoft Windows operating system. Mac OS, Linux, and

Much progress has been made in dealing with the viruses that have recently affected our computers and network. A scan last night and this morning showed a significant decrease in infections.

However, some faculty and staff users are still apparently opening the greeting card e-mail attachments. As long as users on the network continue to open these attachments (or, depending on how your email is configured, possibly just the message itself), the virus can continue to spread and restrictions will have to be put back on which affect everyone. Please remember not to open these and spread the word to anyone who might not have paid attention to the problem.

All PC restrictions (including those affecting printing and GroupWise access) were lifted this morning. A few users with infected computers are still being worked on. But if your computer was not infected and you still have problems, please reboot your computer.