The Melissa virus hit last year, ILOVEYOU spread last spring and Code Red hit this summer. Last week, another bug struck computer users as the NIMDA virus spread around the globe. With so many viruses spreading, this fall ITC and students alike are asking the question "How can we protect our computers?"
There are two major threats to computers connected to the Internet: viruses, with a range of destructive functions, and hackers, who are individuals seeking access to a computer's files and data.
Although ITC distributes anti-virus software on its Software Central Web site and many students run virus scanners on their personal computers, many people at the University remain unaware of how to defend against hackers.
Hackers can most easily access a computer by means of files shared over a network. More than 2,500 users now share files over the University network.
According to Steve Gibson, a technology journalist and president and founder of Gibson Research Corp., a virus research firm, many Internet hackers specifically seek out and locate Windows files and printer ports, whether they are protected by passwords or not.
Malicious computer vandals leave a scanner running night and day collecting network information. Then they "map" that drive's shares onto their local drives to gain total access to your computer's files.
Although password-protecting shared folders does provide a level of security, Gibson says that an intruder can run a number of available password cracking programs against a system, pounding away at a computer's shields until it finds the right password.
Computers also may be vulnerable to intrusion even if they do not share files.
"Trojan horses" are programs inadvertently installed by users, sometimes as a result of infection by a computer virus. These Trojan horses then typically open rarely used TCP/UDP ports, which are the electronic equivalent of P.O. boxes in your computer that store information from the Internet. This enables the culprits to access and delete files.
Last week when the Nimda worm spread, it traveled via e-mail like many other viruses. But this virus also caused entire computer hard drives to be shared on a network. Once lodged in a computer, the virus scanned its host's connections to other systems, looking for other computers with open network access, and attempted to spread to these as well. If any computer on a network was infected by Nimda, all the other computers sharing files on that network could be at risk too.
Firewalls are devices used to protect against intrusion by computer vandals. A firewall may be a dedicated piece of hardware or a piece of software that runs in the background on a personal computer, like a virus scanner, monitoring incoming and outgoing network traffic. Firewalls typically work by refusing connection requests to the host computer from the rest of the Internet, and by preventing unauthorized programs on the host computer from opening ports.
ITC does not distribute firewall software on its Web site and does not recommend a specific firewall product to students.
ITC has reviewed several personal firewalls, including ZoneLabs' free product the ZoneAlarm 2.1, the BlackICE Defender and the Norton Personal Firewall. However Mark Smith, manager of desktop computing services for ITC, said "none of the products ITC has reviewed are licensed in a way that would allow us to distribute them."
Few students at the University use personal firewalls. Although most students have virus scanning software, a combination of high prices and disnterest keeps them from buying other protection.
Third-year College student Ryan Huang says he feels "pretty secure" using his computer on the University network. Although he runs an anti-virus program, he does not use a firewall on his personal computer. He shares files on AOL Instant Messenger and over the University network, but he protects his shared files with a password.
"I don't really have anything important on my computer," he said. "I'm probably not going to install a firewall in the future."
This may not be a poor decision. While firewalls are one way to protect computer networks, they must be part of a larger security system to prove effective. In the business world, some companies spend up to $100,000 installing firewalls. And often, a slew of other programs like encyption software, virus scans, and password systems must also be purchased. Even then there's no guarantee a network is secure. This was witnessed last week when Web sites like MSNBC.com and CNN.com almost crashed due to the Nimda virus.
"There are uses for firewall software; it is one more line of protection," Smith said. "But until the various configuration options can be explained by the manufacturers in a way typical users can understand, users run a significant risk of either blocking legitimate access to the network from their machine, or opening the door wide when then think they are protected"
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