Students returning to campus may have noticed problems using AOL Instant Messenger which, according to campus network administrators, has been the result of a congested network.
A popular means of communication with contacts outside Dartmouth, AIM has not been working for many students since the beginning of the term. Users who attempt to log in to the service receive messages such as "your buddy list has been lost," or "unable to connect to the server, please try again later." Other popular instant messaging programs such as iChat and Adium are also disabled for many people.
David Bucciero, director of Technical Services, said that around 20 students have reported problems with AIM at various locations across the network. He added that only sporadic, not network-wide problems existed -- despite poor connectivity almost everywhere on campus.
In technical terms, Bucciero attributed the instant messenger failure to congestion caused by Windows metafile exploitations -- or security vulnerabilities in this Windows operating system technology.
Attacks through WMFs can occur when one opens a link in an e-mail or clicks an image on a web site. Hackers can gain control of users' systems if these infected sites and images are loaded onto their computers. If the infected metafile is passed into Windows, the computer can run programs that give hackers exterior access to one's computer. Through this opportunity, they could install malicious software on someone's system, explained Paul Schmidt, network administrator.
"There were a couple of programs that would get downloaded on people's systems spread through instant messenger," he said.
When asked why AIM did not function on Macintosh systems unaffected by the WMF virus, Schmidt said it was the first he had heard of instant messaging problems on Apple computers, but said that while the virus only affects computers using Windows, the resulting congestion affects all computers.
Schmidt reassured that Network Services has not specifically blocked AIM use.
"There is a security system that watches traffic in the network that can detect systems running malicious software, it's a possibility that some systems would be blocked in that way but that would cause you to lose all system connectivity," Schmidt said. "It wasn't anything specific done to try to stop the spread of this virus."
Bucciero offered a similar explanation for the AIM problems on campus.
"What's going on is there is the WMF virus causing congestion on the network so AIM traffic is getting dropped," Bucciero said. "The good news is that we now have a patch for it."
A Microsoft patch, as mentioned by Bucciero, or a software download that has been available online since Jan. 5, must be loaded onto all Windows computers to rectify the problem. Until Windows users do this, they will continue to experience problems.
"The issue is that once these perpetrators get in they have access to your machine and generate traffic," Bucciero said.
Bucciero said it will take some troubleshooting to determine the exact cause of the problems.
"It depends where the problem is," he said. "If it's a network issue it shouldn't take long to figure out, but it's hard to say without knowing exactly the cause of the problem."
He also said it generally takes 10 days to resolve issues like these. Network Services plans to monitor the problem for about 10 days after it goes away.
Neither Network Services nor Technical Services has sent a BlitzMail notification to students about this patch.
While those at Network Services and Technical Services work to determine the scope of and solution to the instant messenger failures across campus, many students who use AIM as a major mode of communication are eager to keep up with hometown friends and view the technical problems as a major inconvenience.
"I have to admit, I am always online whenever I can be," said Johnathon Santopadre '09. "I use AOL, not AIM, but still it's been messing up pretty badly lately and it's very irritating. After spending winter break home with my friends I want to talk to them from here, but without AIM, it's more difficult."
While the majority of Dartmouth students have been unable to connect to AIM altogether, a few have experienced success, even if just for a short amount of time.
"One student reported that AIM was up for twenty minutes and then it got dropped," Bucciero said.
Christopher Takeuchi '09 also reported being able to use instant messenger.
Other students have simply put up with the system failure0 and see potential benefits.
"Now that I can't use AIM in class anymore, maybe I'll pay more attention," Dan Josebachvili '09 said.
