Virus prompts Southeast to shut down computers

A virus slipped past protections at Southeast Missouri State University Tuesday, causing Information Technology to mandate computers be turned off until the bug could be wiped from the server. The server was functional again by midday Wednesday, but "less than a dozen" computers were affected to the point they were not operational. John Weber, assistant vice president of Information Technology, said a virus of this week's magnitude only occurs about once every three or four years. He referred to the virus as a Trojan horse, meaning the virus is disguised to look like software. The department is now conducting research on the virus and examining how it got past the university's defenses.