I received a rather annoying email today informing me that my office computer had been compromised by a virus and has been sending out elicit packets. Damn.
I’m not sure how I got the virus, but clearly it is a security threat to me and my school. I appreciate that removing it is not an option, but is re-imaging my machine really the best way to go? That’s right, the default response to this type of situation for our IT department is to re-image the infected machine.
Of course they will help back-up my data, but what about all my settings and all the programs that I have personally (legally) installed? I’m pretty anal when it comes to how my computer is configured and it will take me several hours to get things back to the way I like them. So I ask again, is this the right move? I’m not a security expert but it seems like there are several other steps that can be taken first: virus scan, firewall, etc… Why must they wipe everything as a first move?
Anyone have any experience with this and know how I can convince my IT folks that there is a better way? I really don’t have the time/energy to deal with re-installing my entire machine.
Help!?
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AMA citation:
Prof A. Is Re-imaging An Infected PC The Right (Default) Decision?. Anonymous Prof. 2008. Available at: http://anonymousprof.com/is-re-imaging-an-infected-pc-the-right-default-decision/. Accessed January 7, 2009.
APA citation:
Prof, Anonymous. (2008). Is Re-imaging An Infected PC The Right (Default) Decision?. Retrieved January 7, 2009, from Anonymous Prof Web site: http://anonymousprof.com/is-re-imaging-an-infected-pc-the-right-default-decision/
Chicago citation:
Prof, Anonymous. 2008. Is Re-imaging An Infected PC The Right (Default) Decision?. Anonymous Prof. http://anonymousprof.com/is-re-imaging-an-infected-pc-the-right-default-decision/ (accessed January 7, 2009).
Harvard citation:
Prof, A 2008, Is Re-imaging An Infected PC The Right (Default) Decision?, Anonymous Prof. Retrieved January 7, 2009, from <http://anonymousprof.com/is-re-imaging-an-infected-pc-the-right-default-decision/>
MLA citation:
Prof, Anonymous. "Is Re-imaging An Infected PC The Right (Default) Decision?." 16 Jun. 2008. Anonymous Prof. Accessed 7 Jan. 2009. <http://anonymousprof.com/is-re-imaging-an-infected-pc-the-right-default-decision/>
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My guess is you’re out of luck. A virus scan might be enough to undo the damage, but I think the average IT department will want to defend their network first and do whatever it takes to be sure that the virus is stopped… that’d be imaging.
You could try letting them only do a virus scan and seeing if that solves the problem, but I wouldn’t get your hopes up. However: if they also backup your entire ‘Documents and Settings’ or ‘Users’ directory, you might retain most of your settings.
- Jeroen