help.utk.edu
To: UT System
From: UT Information Security Office
Re: Conficker virus
Date: April 2, 2009
As many of you have likely heard on the news, yesterday marked the day when the latest variant of a widely
distributed computer virus, Conficker.C, was set to “phone home” for further instructions. There have been a
number of doom and gloom predictions about the implications of this virus, but most of those have been
sensationalized news reports based only partially on fact. While this virus does indeed pose a threat to the
global Internet, researchers have recently found an effective way to detect and remove the virus from infected
computers.
Information security personnel at the University have been monitoring the situation for some time and have
taken preventive measures to mitigate any impact it may have to the UT campuses. The McAfee anti-virus software
provided for all computers in the UT system, when updated with the latest virus signatures, can scan for and
remove all variants of the Conficker virus. All University owned computers should automatically update their
Windows operating system and should be patched to prevent this virus from being able to infiltrate UT systems. Devices
at the edge of the University network actively scan incoming and outgoing traffic for signature patterns of
this virus and block them.
All users, faculty, staff, and students should update their anti-virus software and run a complete anti-virus
scan of their system to ensure it is clean. Additionally, the ISO encourages everyone to ensure their Windows
systems have Automatic Updates enabled. To setup Automatic Updates for your computer, go to the Control Panel
and open the Security Center. OIT recommends that you automatically download and install the updates to ensure
the most recent security patches have been installed on your computer.
If you have questions about applying security updates, or if you find that you have Conficker or other
malware on your system, contact your campus or institute helpdesk for assistance.