Spring Break
Editorial: Buggy Situation
Editorial Board
Issue date: 5/6/05 Section: Ed-Op
- Page 1 of 1
The night before a term paper is due, the last thing that you want to see is your computer crippled by a virus. All your work goes away with one click on a link. Amazingly enough, this is preventable. And it doesn't involve manipulating programming code, or calling up a Voodoo witch doctor. Exercising some awareness about your electronic surroundings can go a long way in preventing a computer catastrophe.
Drexel is one of the most technologically-advanced schools in the world, yet the computers in our dorms succumb to a simplistic internet worm transmitted by Instant Messenger. What's more, this same type of transmission occurred last year, damaging computers in a similar method. Unfortunately, we fell victim to the same trick twice.
IRT gave three extremely useful tips to protect your computer (and valuable work contained therein) from malicious software attacks.
1.) Avoid opening e-mail messages, even when you know the sender, if there are multiple subject lines similar to each other. This may indicate a virus spreading itself.
2.) Do not open attachments on e-mails with certain file extensions, such as .vbs and .exe, if you are not expecting an e-mail with attachments to be sent to you.
3.) Be wary of using e-mail accounts not Drexel domain-based while on the campus network. The filtering system used to weed out possible viruses only works on the @Drexel.edu e-mail addresses and you are more susceptible to be the unwilling host of malicious programs spread around campus.
Additionally, students should update their Symantec security programs at least once a week so that it scans for the newest viruses and worms.
Windows systems in particular are more suseptable to these attacks than Macintosh or Linux operating systems.We suggest that the University raise awareness amongst future Drexel students by including one or two lectures in the University 101 course on Internet awareness. Planting the seeds of suspicion into the incoming Freshman classes may reduce the spread of these programs because the new students were made immediately aware of the possible problem.
We are confident IRT is doing their best to deal with the current situation. Prevention of these problems, however, starts with the students themselves. Raising public awareness with the current student body, and making sure incoming students are familiar with safety measures will provide a more secure electronic learning environment.
What more can we say?
The recent crime wave on campus has brought about a revelation to The Triangle Editorial Board: We no longer have any vocabulary left to write an editorial on this subject. We have beaten this subject to death (pardon the expression).
Security is becoming worse and worse as time goes on, and crime is permeating the boundaries of this educational institution. We renew our plea to the administration, University City District, and the Philadelphia Police Department to do something. Anything. This is becoming ridiculous.
Drexel is one of the most technologically-advanced schools in the world, yet the computers in our dorms succumb to a simplistic internet worm transmitted by Instant Messenger. What's more, this same type of transmission occurred last year, damaging computers in a similar method. Unfortunately, we fell victim to the same trick twice.
IRT gave three extremely useful tips to protect your computer (and valuable work contained therein) from malicious software attacks.
1.) Avoid opening e-mail messages, even when you know the sender, if there are multiple subject lines similar to each other. This may indicate a virus spreading itself.
2.) Do not open attachments on e-mails with certain file extensions, such as .vbs and .exe, if you are not expecting an e-mail with attachments to be sent to you.
3.) Be wary of using e-mail accounts not Drexel domain-based while on the campus network. The filtering system used to weed out possible viruses only works on the @Drexel.edu e-mail addresses and you are more susceptible to be the unwilling host of malicious programs spread around campus.
Additionally, students should update their Symantec security programs at least once a week so that it scans for the newest viruses and worms.
Windows systems in particular are more suseptable to these attacks than Macintosh or Linux operating systems.We suggest that the University raise awareness amongst future Drexel students by including one or two lectures in the University 101 course on Internet awareness. Planting the seeds of suspicion into the incoming Freshman classes may reduce the spread of these programs because the new students were made immediately aware of the possible problem.
We are confident IRT is doing their best to deal with the current situation. Prevention of these problems, however, starts with the students themselves. Raising public awareness with the current student body, and making sure incoming students are familiar with safety measures will provide a more secure electronic learning environment.
What more can we say?
The recent crime wave on campus has brought about a revelation to The Triangle Editorial Board: We no longer have any vocabulary left to write an editorial on this subject. We have beaten this subject to death (pardon the expression).
Security is becoming worse and worse as time goes on, and crime is permeating the boundaries of this educational institution. We renew our plea to the administration, University City District, and the Philadelphia Police Department to do something. Anything. This is becoming ridiculous.
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