Nimda Computer Worm Hits Libraries
in Three States
When the Nimda computer worm forced Fairfax County, Virginia, to shut down its Web site September 20, the Fairfax County Public Library was among the many government agencies affected. The library tries to offer all the services through its Web site that are available at the branches, explained Coordinator of Internet Services Lydia Patrick; when the plug was pulled, it meant users were unable to renew or place reserves on materials (more than 1.2 million renewals were performed online last year), perform catalog searches, access databases, apply for library cards, or receive messages on the library’s “FCPLease” community-information e-mail list.
The Web site was restored September 27, although Patrick said service was “still a little sporadic.” She observed that during the interruption the library coped by trying to be multifaceted in the way it offered its services: “It’s been funny how much use our fax machine has been getting the past week.”
Nimda also hit the Maine State Library, where 26 public computers were severely crippled. Reference Librarian Susan McCarthy told the September 26 Kennebec Journal that Nimda, as well as another worm called W32.Vote or WTC.exe, infected the computers on September 24, although the library’s printers had shown signs of the viruses earlier. Fortunately, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation had donated 10 new computers to the library that use a different operating system that is less susceptible to viruses, and they were rushed into service a week early. McCarthy said that two computers used to access the library’s catalog that are not connected to the Internet were unaffected.
At Princeton University in New Jersey, the library’s Electronic Course Reserve System, which provides online access to course reserve materials, was shut down September 18 after being infected by Nimda. The system was restored September 22 with no loss of data, the Daily Princetonian reported September 26.
Posted October 1, 2001.
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