Virus protection starts with the user

  • Published
  • By Maj. Tracy West
  • 436th Airlift Wing Communications Squadron
DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. --  On March 26, 1999, an unsuspecting user downloaded a document from an adult-themed newsgroup and launched one of the most well-known viruses to ever plague the global information infrastructure. The document seemed innocuous in that it provided a fake list of pornographic Web sites and passwords for free access. The virus immediately replicated and sent itself to 50 users in the unsuspecting user's address list. The 50 users received the document from an email address they recognized, opened the document and inadvertently launched the virus to 50 users in their address lists. The cycle continued, and the virus rapidly spread and wreaked havoc on the global information infrastructure until it was contained a few days later.

I've just described the humble beginnings of the "Melissa" virus. Before computer emergency response teams around the globe could contain and eradicate the Melissa virus, she caused more than $80 million in lost productivity for some of the world's largest businesses. According to reports, Melissa bombarded one site with 32,000 infected emails in less than 45 minutes. Several sites decided the only way to protect their systems from the wrath of Melissa was to simply shut down their email systems and completely remove their sites from the Internet for several days.

The speed of the attack and widespread impact of the virus made Melissa global news. Following the outbreak, Congressional hearings dissected the root cause and determined greater information security methods were needed at all levels of government. As a result, a lot of technical solutions have been implemented to protect our information systems, but technical solutions alone are only part of the answer. The primary answer lies in user education and for everyone to use our information systems in a responsible manner.

Dover's network is a critical component in all aspects of our daily mission. We must ensure it's available to provide real-time maintenance data to fix our aircraft, command and control applications for launching aircraft and moving cargo, and the myriad of support systems required to keep our base functioning. We have two fixed procedures in place to ensure the availability of the Dover network. Before anyone accesses the network, we validate their trustworthiness via a security clearance or national agency check. We also mandate completion of Information Assurance Awareness training. Despite these procedures, we still see instances of misuse on a periodic basis and occasionally are infected with some sort of malicious code. Fortunately, these instances have not yet caused severe damage or disrupted service. However, we can never forget the potential of future attacks or the fact they may pose threats equal to or greater than the Melissa virus.

Will an attack similar to Melissa completely prevent us from delivering the more than 1,300 tons of cargo our wing airlifts to the front lines of the Global War on Terrorism each week? I doubt it, but it may degrade our ability to provide the rapid mobility our warriors downrange expect and deserve. We cannot afford to put our missions at risk as a result of decreased vigilance or careless use of our information systems.

The virus attack March 26, 1999 will not ever be the prime subject of a country music song, but the Melissa virus did serve as a wakeup call to everyone whose operations rely on the availability of the global information infrastructure. New threats are looming ... waiting for a careless user to launch them. Remain vigilant and don't do anything that may decrease availability of our network. We need your vigilance to continue to provide world-class global airlift to our nation's heroes operating throughout the world.