PC update causes chaos

Rider suffered alongside McAfee business users when a security update went awry.

According to Carol Kondrach, associate vice president for information technologies, a virus attached to the McAfee system update affected business users on Wednesday, April 21, if their computers were on, or if they turned on their computers before the Office of Information Technologies (OIT) could block McAfee. This affected only Windows computers.

“About 1,000 work stations were impacted,” Kondrach said. “OIT understood what the problem was within an hour of the delivery of the virus.”

Kondrach explained that a team was trained to address the issue, which had to be fixed manually.

“We were addressing classrooms first and key business areas,” Kondrach said.

The McAfee update made Windows system files look like a virus, said Kondrach. It took  system files and deleted the contents, rendering machines useless.

Workers in Mail Services and Facilities said the loss of computers hit them hard. Kondrach said OIT did its best to fix the problem.

“To anyone who called us to inform us that they had a key business need that needed to be met, we adjusted our priorities to be sure that it was met in a timely manner,” Kondrach said.