Information and Alerts

We would strongly recommend turning on the Windows Update feature.  Call our Support Desk at 974-6288 for help if needed.  

Current Alerts

1-5-2005 - The Holiday season brought with it a new round of vulnerability notices and virus warnings, please ensure you keep all patches and antivirus software up to date.

1-4-2005 During the week between Christmas and New Years a Microsoft SQL Slammer worm attack was launched on all computers on campus. This worm attacks an old vulnerability in Microsoft SQL server and the Microsoft SQL Desktop Engine used in many programs. 15 computers across the campus where compromised. Please ensure you run Windows Updates to make sure your computer is patched up to date

5-5-2004 - Sasser Worm Inside Firewall - As Feared, the Sasser worm has been introduced inside the HSC firewall, probably from an infected laptop.  There are two symptoms. 1) Your computer constantly reboots.  2) Your computer rebooted once and now you do not seem to have an internet connection (because we have disabled your port).  In either of these cases you may call the Support Desk at 974-6288 for assistance.

If you wish to clean your own computer:  If your machine is infected and you are reading this from an uninfected machine that has a CD burner that you know how to use, download Stinger (found in the left column of this page) to remove the virus and the appropriate patch (below) to protect the computer from reinfection, burn them to CD and follow the steps below for cleaning.

If you do not have a CD burner, but have a blank writable CD ROM, you may bring it to our office and we will burn it for you. 

Cleaning from CD:

1. Boot the infected computer into Windows Safe Mode. Turn the computer off, then back on and begin repeatedly hitting the F8 key about once per second.  In a minute a menu should be presented that offers to start in Normal or Safe Mode.  Start in Safe Mode without network support.
2. Insert the CD into the infected computer's CD drive.
3. Right click the Start button and select Explore from the menu that is displayed.
4. Find the CD drive.  If you burned the CD, Stinger will be in the place you selected.  If you get the CD burned by us it will be in the root directory of the CD.
5. Run Stinger and click Scan have it scan your computer.
6. Run the patch after Stinger completes.  The patches names begin with the Windows version, i.e. Windows200-... or WindowsXP-...
7. After the patch is installed reboot the computer.  If your network port has been disabled call the Support Desk at 974-6288 and we will add the port to the list to be re-enabled.

Sasser Patch for Windows XP (all versions)

Sasser Patch for Windows 2000 (Service Pack 2 or newer)

Sasser Patch for Windows NT 4 (Service Pack 6a)

McAfee Stinger.

See the instructions below for setting up Automatic Windows Updates below to help protect against future infections.

McAfee VirusScan

It is USF Health policy that all computers attaching to our network have virus scanning software installed, running, and up-to-date.  The University provides a site license that covers all USF computers as well as personally owned home equipment belonging to faculty, staff, or students.

Click Here to Download McAfee VirusScan

Windows Update

It is vital to keep up with current patches for Windows to avoid many of the latest worms and viruses.  Follow these quick steps to set it to check for updates automatically in the future, then click on the link below to get your computer up to date now. 

1. Go to the Automatic Updates dialog box.  For Windows XP, Click Start; right-click on My Computer; choose Properties; then Automatic Updates.  For Windows 2000, click Start and go to the Control Panel.  Double-click on the Automatic Updates icon.  If you aren’t sure what version of Windows you have, right-click on My Computer and choose Properties and your version will be displayed in the General tab. 

2. In the Automatic Updates dialog box, put a checkmark in “Keep my computer up to date.”  Then click the middle setting, “Download the updates automatically and notify me to install them.”  Click Apply and OK. 

3. From now on, whenever there are new updates you will see a small balloon in your lower screen alerting you to install them; click on the balloon to be walked through it.  When you see this alert, you must click to install them or your computer will not be up to date. 

Click Here to Run Windows Update Now

Information Resource Links

McAfee VirusScan Updates & Upgrades
McAfee Virus Information Library
Symantec Security Response Page

Policy

It is USF Health policy that all computers connecting to the HSC network have installed and up-to-date virus detection software.  McAfee Virus Scan is provided to meet this requirement and is available for download here.  If you have a computer on your desk or in your lab you have primary responsibility for assuring that it remains virus free and does not disrupt or corrupt the work of others.

Downloads

Downloads available on this page are dated and targeted toward coping with particular threats.  Please check the descriptions carefully when choosing which to download and install.

McAfee Stinger v2.6.0 (02/02/2006) - Click to Download

Standalone virus removal tool from McAfee.  This version cleans the following viruses/worms:

Individual Patches

These patches cure specific issues and do not represent all of the patches available from Microsoft.  Installation of these does not negate the need to regularly run Windows Update.

LSA Shell (Sasser) Vulnerability Patches 835732 (MS04-011)

• Windows XP Patch - DOWNLOAD - This patch will protect against infection by Sasser and related worms.
• Windows 2000 Patch - DOWNLOAD - Requires at least Service Pack 2 to be installed first.
• Windows NT v4 Patch - DOWNLOAD - Requires at Service Pack 6a.

RPC Vulnerability Patches  824146 (MS03-039) - Supercedes 823980 (MS03-026):

• Windows XP Patch - DOWNLOAD - This patch alone should be all that is required to protect Windows XP machines.
• Windows 2000 Patch - DOWNLOAD - You will need to install the Windows Service Packs for Windows 2000 prior to running this patch.  Service Pack 4 is available below.
• Windows NT Patch - DOWNLOAD - This patch alone should be all that is required to protect Windows NT v4 machines.

Windows 2000 Service Pack 4 - DOWNLOAD - This service pack fixes many known issues with Windows 2000 and is required before the RPC vulnerability patch will run.  This download is over 130 megabytes and will take a long time over a dial-up connection. You may bring a blank CD-R to our office at MDC 1054 and we will burn the service pack to it if you wish.