“If you don’t set a password, anyone with the right software can take control of your computer and install software to let them do whatever they want,” Davis said.
Hackers want to use systems that are not their own so that they can escape detection even if their actions are discovered. This tactic has proved a problem for the University in the past.
“It’s not unusual to get outside reports from institutions like the military saying that a [Harvard] computer has been implicated in an attack on their system,” Davis said.
Student and faculty computers can also be especially vulnerable because they often do not keep their computers up-to-date with patches that fix vulnerabilities in various types of existing software.
Davis pointed out that Microsoft had discovered up to 48 bugs in their software over the past year. Until those bugs are repaired with patches—which the software companies make available to consumers of their products—they represent areas vulnerable to malicious attacks.
Computers can also be hacked into by viruses. The best protection against these, Davis said, is to use antivirus programs such as those distributed to all students in the school’s startup software package.
“Computer viruses are a big area where students get their computers infiltrated,” said Davis.
It was her lack of an administrative password, Martin said, that was probably the vulnerability that allowed her computer to be attacked. She had disabled the password in order to try to network two computers and the attack likely happened during that time.
Those who were suspended from Harvard’s network said they were frustrated with the delay in getting back on the server. As of yesterday, she was still unable to access her e-mail from her home computer.
“It doesn’t make sense that I’m not online right now,” Martin said. “My computer is fixed—completely fixed.”
David B. Rochelson, ’05, expressed a similar sentiment after being unable to check his e-mail from home. His personal computer has been reconnected, after being off the server for a week.
“Every kiosk you see, you pounce on it;” Rochelson said.