It was a typical Wednesday on the UCLA campus when everything began going wrong in the student computer lab. The computer lab was filled to capacity as the end of the semester neared. Nearly 70 students were logged in to the UCLA computer net¬ work when the system came to a halt. Students tried running software without success, and many students could not even log in.

System directors initially suspected a cable break or an operating system failure as the culprit, but diagnostics revealed nothing. After several frustrating hours, a staff member began running a virus detection program and uncovered a virus on the lab’s main server. The virus was eventually traced to the computers of unsuspecting UCLA students. When staff workers used the infected computers to gain supervisor access to the operating system, the virus spread.

The virus cost UCLA about 25 person-hours and disrupted the lives of frantic students preparing for finals. Later that evening, the system was brought back online after infected files were replaced with backup copies.

Required

a. What conditions made the UCLA system a potential breeding ground for the virus?

b. What symptoms indicated that a virus was present?

c. What advice would you give UCLA’s director of computing to prevent the same incident from recurring?