Science / Medicine : Computer Virus Hits School
A computer virus that appears to be a version of one created in Pakistan has infected programs used by University of Houston business students, causing a nuisance but posing no real danger, officials say. The original so-called “Brain” computer virus was traced to a computer store in Lahore, Pakistan.
Some students have reported losing data, but university official Michael Walters said he knows of no one who has lost an entire term paper or other large quantity of work.
The virus first announced itself at the university early last week on the screen of one of the 150 personal computers the business department has for students and faculty, Walters said. It has not spread to larger computers at the school, he said.
Walters said the virus at the school flashed this message, with misspellings, to students who tried to use infected programs: “Welcome to the dungeon. Copyright 1968 Brain & Amjads, PVT, LTD. Virus shoe record V9.0. Dedicated to the dynamic memory of millions of virus who are no longer with us today--Thank Goodness. BEWARE OF THE VIRUS. This program is catching. Program follows after these messages.”
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