Virus attack hits Vista machines, cripples university network

(Sourse: ZDNet / Zack Whittaker) A massive virus attack has hit the University of Exeter resulting in the entire network being shut down both by the virus and the network staff in an attempt to protect the infrastructure. The virus hit the network , which runs Windows Vista, on Monday and is still having major implications even now - two days later. According to an IT support email, “…this is a completely new virus and we are the only organisation in the world to experience it. None of the mainstream virus software suppliers have seen this virus, and as such, there is no fix.” It’s unclear if this virus is entirely unique, but it does highlight the challenges of security.>

Student residences and halls of residence are still currently offline but this will be one of the priorities, yet most of the network has now been restored. David Allen, registrar and deputy chief executive of the university, has assured students that any delay to handing in work will be treated sympathetically and will have “arranged short term extensions… as appropriate”.
Other campuses of the university and connecting networks have been isolated, removing the branch office element and cutting campuses off from each other to limit further damage.
An internal email from the network security administration has been quoted as saying, “This is what happens when SUS [software update service] admins don’t auto-approve”, suggesting someone managing the network updates hadn’t patched the exploitable computers with the appropriate fix, leading to this issue.
The virus is believed to have come from inside the network according to my source; whether via a student PC or a staff PC is not yet known. Other networks which connect to the Exeter network, such as external colleges and campuses have been patched and are “using nmap’ping the network for Vista machines to stop them accessing the network”.
Whether anything was stolen or hacked as a result of this breach is unknown.
Vista has seemed to live to die another day, and maybe for Exeter, this day will be sooner rather than later. However, universities and institutions are stuck with Vista if they have already upgraded due to compatibility issues and the lack of support available now for XP. After the disruption caused to staff and students as a result of this breach, not to mention the money lost, I wouldn’t blame them if they thought an immediate upgrade to Windows 7 or even another operating system would be a wise investment.
(Zack Whittaker, the youngest in the ZDNet network, is a British student at the University of Kent, Canterbury, where he studies BA (Hons) Criminology and Social Policy. His insight into the next-generation is unique and first-hand, sharing his knowledge of the here and now but more so what's next and how to get there.)