A number of Flint Village residents have been affected by a computer virus distinguishable by frequent pop-ups from 360.gxgxy.net and Web site failure. Incidences of the computer virus were reported to Computer and Information Technology (CIT) and the Flint Village Community Center as early as Monday, Jan. 21, according to several Flint Village residents.
On Friday at 4:57 p.m., University Apartments e-mailed a mass virus alert from CIT to the residents of the apartment complex, advising those whose computers had been affected to receive "professional remediation," which is generally not free.
Directions to prevent computer infection were in the e-mail from the CIT Help Desk staff. It states that Flint residents should, "Avoid risky computing behaviors such as: file-sharing from untrusted sources, lack of appropriate care in handling instant messages (IM) and e-mail attachments, and browsing questionable Web sites." Keeping updated security software, including Spybot, Symantec Antivirus and Ad-Aware, was also recommended.
Flint Village residents Melissa Welch, a junior accounting major, and roommate Kathleen Hourihan, a senior business major, noticed the pop-ups and contacted CIT.
"It's just like these Asian pop-ups. I called the IT. I asked them why doesn't my Internet work at all or it works some pages and it's really slow. He was like 'maybe you should update your browser,'" Welch said. "He said he would call me when (the problem is) fixed. They have not called yet. They told me to stay unplugged."
Hourihan used security software when the pop-ups appeared.
"Friday I was on PerezHilton.com and these weird Asian pop-ups came on. It latched onto my AIM. I ran all my CC cleaner products and it did not catch anything, so I did not think anything of it until my computer started slowing down," Hourihan said.
The roommates explained that they want the university to take responsibility for what happened on the UB computer network.
"I'm just mad because UB is [promoting] technology and how we are all secure. They should do it (wipe out our hard drives) for free," Hourihan said.
A senior business administration major who declined to give his name due to concerns of privacy, initially noticed the virus over the Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend break. The student's desktop computer and wireless laptop were both infected.
"(The pop-ups) appear on the corners of the screen and they try to hijack the Web page, so it sends you to a different webpage, which gives you viruses and slows down your computer. It could attach itself to prompts - it says download from gxgxy.net," the student said.
He said he had contacted CIT, but received no resolution by Thursday afternoon.
"This wasn't our fault. If it is widespread across Flint then it is not everyone's fault that something happened with your network; it was a network vulnerability," the student said.
The student explained he contacted a couple of computer repair specialists who told him that reformatting the computers would not keep the virus from coming back into his network if CIT does not reboot the Flint Village router.
"We could do it as many times as we want, but if they don't get it cleaned up or everyone doesn't do it at the same time then it is just going to get recycled through and everyone will get it again. That is all CIT would tell me," the anonymous source said.
Other Flint Village residents describe the same symptoms that take over their computers; penguins, pornographic images, and endless Chinese symbols appear in the pop-up windows. The dominant features of the virus are two windows that appear at the bottom corners of the screen. Students have expressed different degrees of severity.
"All it really does is slow down your internet. I've already started saving all my files," said Frances Weaver, a junior speech and hearing sciences major.
Weaver and her roommate Cari Engelmann, a senior speech and hearing sciences major, had their computers connected directly to the wall when they noticed the symptoms of the computer virus on Tuesday. Engelmann said she tried contacting CIT seeking help for her and her roommates.
"We all rely on our internet. If the Internet's messed up, what are you offering us? We want to check our mail and we want to do research on papers. There's no reason why we shouldn't be able to," Engelmann said.
Engelmann explained that she called CIT and received the same type of instruction as in the mass e-mail.
"They gave me this Symantec website and steps to remove (the virus). They said 'we really don't know if it will work.' He was a really nice guy, it's not like he didn't want to help me, but he really couldn't," Engelmann said.
Weaver and Engelmann installed updated firewalls and ran virus scans that turned up with nothing. The students explained that they expect CIT to resolve the issue.
"We all rely on CIT. They make us use their Internet service, but yet they won't be reliable for what happens to our computers when their network is obviously not secure," Engelmann said. "If it were secure there is no way that all of us would be getting the exact same virus the exact same way."
The roommates said this is a widespread issue that is affecting the majority of people they knew in Flint Village.
"Everyone I know in Flint has it. It is not a coincidence. Our roommate, who has a Mac has it too," Engelmann said.
On Thursday evening, Flint Village Community Center Staff acknowledged they received inquiries about the virus from two or three residents. The staff called CIT and was given similar instructions.
Many residents did not know the pop-ups were a result of a computer virus.
"I thought it was just some Web site pop-up. I didn't even know about it. My computer's old so I didn't know if it was an Internet or just the computer," said Patrick Davidson, senior urban public policy major.
Sonia Sawkar, second-year pharmacy student, thought nothing of the pop-ups she noticed at the beginning of the week. Her roommates do not have the virus, she said.
"I just ignored it. Yesterday, my friend was talking about how this virus was going around. Even when I didn't have my browser on, it would keep opening a new browser. Today I've been trying to save all my files," Sawkar said.
The 20 students The Spectrum contacted reside in different parts of Flint Village, suggesting a widespread issue.
On Thursday afternoon, the CIT Help Desk consultants stated they had no comment until the CIT Network Team found a solution to the problem. The supervisor on staff was not available for comment.
The Spectrum will keep students updated as developments occur.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
