Even in an intensely watched setting like the UW-Madison campus, information technology staff discovered 20 computers infected with Conficker. “Twenty out of 40,000 isn’t too bad,” said UW IT spokesperson Meg McCall.
“What we then do is cut those machines off immedately from network access, encourage them to work with out help desk or do other maintenance to remove that,” said McCall.
McCall said UW constantly encourages students to pick up free security upgrades on CD. A more directed warning went out back in October, she said.
To help keep the thousands of private student laptops clean as well, anyone later discovered to have Conficker, will also be unplugged from UW’s network.