Escalating worm problems are causing Computing and Media Services to consider shutting down ResNET completely and re-registering each student individually. But preventing your computer from contracting the latest worm might be as simple as a double-click.

CMS officials regard shutting down ResNET as their last resort. If this were to happen, all students’ ResNET would be shut down while CMS repaired the network. Those students who had downloaded the patch previously would be able to register themselves once the network became active again, while those who did not would be forced to wait for a CMS employee to re-register them.

‘Shutting ResNET down would be such an awful thing to happen,’ said Deborah Nosky, manager of IT communications and developments. ‘The Internet is too important to your success as a student and to keeping in touch with family and friends back home.’

Since students’ arrival on campus, three worms, all variations of the original MSBlast one, have been causing problems for both students and network specialists. The worm might cause a computer to reboot every couple of minutes, and it is also clogging the network with unnecessary messages.

‘ResNET is painfully slow because it’s blasting messages out to the network with tons of bogus messages,’ Nosky said.

ResNET is able to prevent an infected computer from sending messages outside that computer’s residence hall, but it still hampers the connection for all its users in that dorm.

‘Students have to participate in the solution,’ Nosky said. ‘We need all the help we can get to get this fixed fast.’

Students who have not patch their computers face inconvenient consequences if they contract the worm.

‘If you aren’t patched and you get this worm, you will be taken off ResNET,’ Nosky said.

While individual computers have been removed from the Internet thus far for this reason, the first group of 150 students had theirs removed on Friday. As of Monday afternoon, only 60 of those students have been reconnected because the other 90 haven’t been in their rooms when CMS employees came by to reconnect them.

‘The hardest part is getting ahold of these students while they are in their room,’ Nosky said.

CMS employees are not allowed to fix the computers without the students’ presence.

This rule adds to the devastation that students would face if the university decided to shut off ResNET. But even more complicated is CMS’ policy on not reconnecting a dorm until every unpatched computer is fixed.

‘It’s not your fault if we can’t find the guy down the hall who needs to be patched,’ Nosky said.

Of the 7,000 students registered with ResNET, 2,000 have successfully defended their computers from the worm.

In a meeting this morning, CMS officials decided to keep the 25 temporary staff members hired specifically to deal with this problem an additional week.

Some students who attempt to patch their computers themselves are making small mistakes that prevent them from being fully patched.

‘If you click on PC Secure (at http://cms.syr.edu), this downloads the patch onto the computer, and this leaves a lot students thinking they’re fine,’ said Nosky. ‘But, you have to click on the owl and run it.’

MacAfee provides students with the latest virus updates.

‘We picked it because we thought it would be the most cost-effective and meet the needs of the students,’ Nosky said. This is the second of a three-year subscription with MacAfee.

Despite the inconvenience a lack of Internet would cause students, CMS officials have almost run out of options.

‘This is a battle we’ve been fighting for a while,’ said Nosky. ‘We don’t want to have to punish those who have made the effort to patch their computer.’

If CMS officials decide to shut off Resnet, SU won’t be the first to experience the slow reconnection.

‘Several other schools are making each student reregister for the program and making sure their computer is patched,’ said Eric Abrams, a senior information studies major. ‘Personally, I’d rather not see it happen, but it may eventually prove necessary. A lot of people would be really upset if [CMS] did that.’

For most students, the Internet has integrated itself into both their daily and academic lives.

‘[My philosophy 191 class] communicates a lot outside of class,’ said Serena Augustine, a sophomore bioengineering major, who patched her computer herself as soon as she got on campus. ‘If it was only for a day, that would be okay, but not for an extended period of time.’

Published on September 8, 2003 at 12:00 pm