Communication advice - further information

Dear Student,

I hope as many of you as possible are able to receive this message.

The University suffered a virus attack yesterday which we believe came in through PCs running Microsoft Windows Vista Service Pack 2. Experience of dealing with data corrupting viruses elsewhere indicates that it is essential to shut down the network ASAP to avoid so many machines and files being corrupted that it takes weeks to recover. Therefore, although this is a PC rather than a network problem, we had to shut down the network to isolate the virus.

If your PC or laptop runs Microsoft Windows Vista Service Pack 2 (to find out, right-click ‘My Computer’ and select ‘Properties’), you should not seek to connect to the University network until further advice is issued.
 
This issue is being treated with the utmost priority, and we have a computer security expert working on site with our IT team today to try to diagnose and cure the problem. In the meantime we have brought back online some buildings which do not have the Vista operating system.  We will endeavour to get all buildings online as soon as is possible and safe.  In the case that the virus is found once an area is back online, we may need to remove that building from the network, so the network should be deemed unstable for all users for the time being.

Users without access to the network will not be able to use email and access the web via our PC clusters, wireless network or the residential network (ResNet).  The Virtual Learning Environment is not available and neither are interactive teaching boards in teaching rooms.. The Cornwall campus has been isolated from the University of Exeter network to avoid virus problems there.
 
Outlook Web Access (OWA) and the MyExeter portal are working, so users can access emails or files from computers off-campus. 
 
Voice over IP (VoIP) telephones will not be working in buildings which are offline so in a non-IT emergency, staff or students should contact Estate Patrol via mobile phone on 01392 263999.
 
We are aware that this may affect students who are due to submit work, and want to reassure you that the University is dealing with the issue as a number one priority, and we will be sympathetic to any student who has been affected by the network problems and can arrange short term extensions to submission deadlines as appropriate.   If your submission has been affected, please contact your School Office as soon as possible.

 This may also have affected some teaching activities, and while we are confident that teaching staff will have done all they can to deliver the learning objectives, alternative arrangements will be considered for any activities which have had to be abandoned.

Our website and that of the Guild will be updated regularly as the situation develops for those who can access it. The Contingency Planning Group will meet again regularly and I will issue further advice as necessary.
 
Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience caused by this downtime, but be assured that we are treating it with the utmost importance.

David

David Allen
Registrar and Deputy Chief Executive