Home > Viruses

Institutional Level | In the Office | At Home | Hoaxes

Institutional Level:

Periodically a computer virus, worm, or Trojan Horse is detected on computer systems around the world. Many of these viruses are spread via e-mail. To combat the effect that these viruses may have on computers at FIU, the University has acquired the McAfee enterprise anti-virus solution.

As part of the solution, e-mail coming in to FIU is scanned before it is delivered to mailboxes. This eliminates known viruses and prevents their spread by e-mail.

In the office:

Viruses may be spread by passing a diskette with an infection from one computer to another. For this reason, the University's Computer Support Service Center has installed the McAfee Orchestrator, an anti-virus agent, on individual computers. The anti-virus agent scans the computer memory and files for infection, giving the user the option to inoculate the system. The Orchestrator checks the University's anti-virus control center periodically to determine whether any updates have been implemented. When updates are detected, the Orchestrator downloads the relevant files to the user's computer to enhance the protection effort.

At Home:

To reduce the probability of a virus infection, all computers should be protected against viruses. As a result, FIU's anti-virus software license allows member of the FIU community (faculty, staff and students) to download the McAfee anti-virus software for home use. Using a browser and a modem on your computer at home, connect to:

http://www.fiu.edu/~irmsc/downloads/downloads.htm

You will need to enter your FIU network username and password to access this information. Once you have been authenticated, click on "McAfee Anti-Virus" from the options. This will start the download process. Please note that this file is 21.4 MB and may take as long as sixty (60) minutes for the download to be completed if you are using a 56Kbps modem.

On the "Downloads" page, you will also find a link called "McAffee Anti-Virus Download Instructions". You may find the information from this link useful.

If you do not want to spend the time downloading the file, you may get the file from ITC if you bring a recordable CD or a zip disk to the center. Please contact us at itc@fiu.edu for more information.

Hoaxes:

From time to time, you may receive an e-mail message from an acquaintance, advising you to be aware of an existing virus which, the message says, will destroy all your files. In most cases, you are urged to send the message to everyone that you know to warn them. Usually, the first clue that the warning is a hoax is the existence of the phrase "..Send this message to everyone ..." . Please refrain from perpetuating the hoax by not sending.

First check the website http://www.datafellows.com/virus-info/hoax to determine whether the threat outlined in the message is listed among the known hoaxes.