What to do if you get a virus

If you have a virus on your computer, ensure your anti-virus software is up to date before running the software to clean your computer.

If you do not have anti-virus software on your computer, please visit the ITS Help Desk website and click “Self Serve” located at the top of the web page. Download and install the appropriate anti-virus software for your computer and run it.

Please contact your departmental Level 1 or ITS Help Desk if you require assistance.

UNB’s Line of Defence against Viruses and Worms

From time to time computers on campus are infected with a computer virus or worm. Viruses and worms are software programs that have been designed to affect computer operation, corrupt or delete data, and/or spread to other computers through the internet.  Each program reacts differently and most are caught by anti-virus software before they are able to cause damage.

In some cases, the program attempts to quickly spread by initiating contact with other computers located on the UNB network. When ITS staff observe this behavior, the offending computers are moved to a quarantine network called Virus VLAN. This network isolates the infected computers so they do not infect other computers on campus.

Once ITS technical staff have been able to identify the virus or worm and the tools required to remove the program, these tools and instructions are placed on the Virus VLAN web server.  Computers that have been quarantined to this network can then access this web server and follow the instructions to clean or "disinfect" their computers. The Virus VLAN web server also includes a method to notify ITS staff when the infected computer is clean and ready to be returned to the campus network.

This quarantine network is only used in rare cases when a virus or worm is prone to spread rapidly. The Virus VLAN was last used in 2004 and we would be delighted to never have to engage it again. To help protect UNB owned and personally owned computers from being infected, UNB offers anti-virus software to every student, faculty and staff at no-charge.  To install anti-virus software, please visit the ITS Help Desk website and click “Self Serve” located at the top of the web page.