Inside Iowa State: Iowa State University

Aug. 14, 2003

Protect your PC; get the latest Windows patch

If you haven't run an update on your Microsoft Windows system lately, do it now or risk getting the latest computer virus that's making the rounds on the Internet.

The W32 Blaster Worm, aka the Lovsan Worm, has been keeping computer techs busy on campus and around the world. Computers infected with the worm may reboot frequently, display error messages or exhibit any number of kinds of weird behavior.

The worm is crawling around the Internet through a recently discovered Windows security hole. To protect campus computers, ISU information techology staff began blocking certain kinds of Internet traffic coming into the Iowa State network Friday, Aug. 8, said Frank Poduska, systems analyst in Academic Information Technologies (AIT).

"We've been monitoring campus traffic for signs of the worm and isolating infected computers from the Internet," Poduska said.

Who's affected
The worm affects Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. Other Windows versions or Macs aren't susceptible to the worm.

Prevention
You can protect yourself from the worm by applying Microsoft's latest "patch" to your Windows system. If you have campus computer support personnel, consult with them about updating your system. Or visit the Microsoft update site (http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com) and run the free update program on the PCs at your office and home.

If you think your computer is infected
If you believe your computer has been infected with the Blaster worm, contact your computer service provider or call the AIT Solution Center at 6-6000.