President Mellichamp blames internet interruptions on viruses from students’ personal computers. Student reporter, Manyi Eno, discussed the problems with Sharyar Heydari, head of the IT department.
Listen to her story.
Q: Have there been any updates to the internet so far this year?
A: Our 1000 Mbps upgrade will take place over the next 2 weeks.
Q: Are you all having any specific difficulties as of right now with the internet updates?
A: No
Q: President Mellichamp sent out an email two weeks ago to the residents on campus about the internet being interrupted due to viruses on students’ personal computers. Can you please explain how you all found that to be the reason of the internet interruptions on campus?
A: We referred to our firewall even logs, which showed us the computers that were infected.
Q: What are some of the main causes why students receive viruses on their computers?
A: Absence of anti-virus/anti-malware programs, careless web browsing, installing software/apps from untrusted sites…
Q: What else can contribute to viruses on student’s personal computers?
A: Opening files/documents/executables that may be attached to emails.
Q: President Mellichamp also said that students should make sure they have the latest virus protection program on their computers. Are there any specific virus protection programs you would recommend?
A: We recommend Microsoft Security Essentials (a free program) for Windows computers and Sophos Anti-Virus (a free program) for Macs.