Checking your e-mail these days is no party, especially with a new computer virus on the loose.
The "My Party" computer virus spread through campus Sunday night, leaving many students with several infected e-mails in their mailboxes.
While the fairly harmless virus, a "worm," was originally thought to be a rapidly moving virus, there have not been very large numbers of infections reported on campus.
Engineering junior Frank De Paoli, one of Harrison College House's computing managers, attributes the lack of infections to the early response by computing systems' staff and the students themselves.
"We sent the warning out early enough, so it wasn't a big deal," De Paoli said. "Either that or people just put two and two together when they got so many e-mails."
"Our work hasn't been any more than usual today... [the virus is] pretty dead now."
When downloaded, the web-centered virus acts in a threefold manner. First, the worm sends out an infected e-mail to everyone on the recipient's contact list if the recipient is using a Microsoft Windows-based e-mail program.
The virus will also send itself to any other e-mail addresses it can find on the computer if the recipient is using Microsoft Outlook Express.
Secondly, the virus sends a response to the author of the virus so that the originator can track the recipients.
Lastly, for users of Windows XP, 2000, or NT systems, it installs a "backdoor." The backdoor allows any hacker to work into the computer.
Fortunately, the backdoor's homebase website was shut down early on to prevent further damage to recipients.
The virus itself was restricted so that it could be active only from Jan. 25 to Jan. 29, so the virus can do no more damage after tonight. Although this virus scare will soon be over, it is likely that copycat viruses labeled with different active dates will soon appear.
The origin of the virus, both on the web and the first recipient on campus, is still unknown, according to De Paoli.
According to Penn's "Vi-Squad," a conglomeration of information technology assistants and staff who are specifically alerted when viruses strike, the virus affects very little in the computer's system itself and has been deemed a "low damage" virus.
"It's not malicious at all," said Engineering senior Michael Portnoy, one of Stouffer College House's two computing managers. "It's just very annoying."
College senior Laurie Heusner was one virus recipient. Her computer became affected with the virus early Monday morning.
"The virus totally sucks. It took my [Information Technology Assistant] over two hours to find the virus and delete it," Heusner said. "I never even downloaded it; it sent out everything before I even knew it."
"I'm definitely not using Outlook again," she said.
Though she said the virus was annoying, Heusner said there was no permanent damage done to her computer.
"Everything's fine that I checked, but I haven't really stretched the limits of my computer yet," she said. "I was wary of that."
De Paoli said that the virus is easy to clean up, requiring very little to find and remove.
If a computer may have a virus, De Paoli suggests running Norton Antivirus or downloading the program from the Computing Systems' web site, found at www.rescomp.upenn.edu.
