More universities take action to block unpatched/infected computers

[Sean Donelan <sean () donelan com>]

Back to school season continues in North America, and more universities
are taking stronger actions concerning unpatched and infected computers.
At least two universities are now charging students $25-$30 everytime
their computers are infected and need to be cleaned before being allowed
back on the school network.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A25845-2003Sep4.html

> More than 6,000 students that had yet to apply the needed patches did so,
> but hundreds of other students ignored the advice and were promptly
> booted from the university network, said Gerry Sneeringer, an IT
> security officer at Maryland's Office of Information Technology.
>
> "There were a certain percentage of students that wouldn't listen to us
> unless we hit them upside the head with a lockout," he said. "You simply
> can't deal with these problems until you've got your network under
> control."


Universities have one big advantage; they are a campus and can distribute
CDROMs with the fix or have students come to the computer center.