Virus hits Islip Town, MacArthur Airport computers
A virus attack crippled computer systems in Islip Town offices and at Long Island MacArthur Airport for more than a week but did not compromise operations or security at the airport, officials said yesterday.
The disruption, which began Nov. 20 and affected e-mail, individual hard drives and townwide servers, should be resolved today, town information management director Cedric Cleveland said.
The attack, which officials estimate cost the town more than $50,000, underscored the need to upgrade the town's outdated technology, Islip Supervisor Phil Nolan said.
The computer systems "were someplace back in the late '70s when we came into office" in 2006, Nolan said. "This year we're furiously advancing our systems to bring us at least into the 1990s."
A new $270,000 operating system was in the testing phase when the virus hit, and its adoption may be delayed by the attack, Cleveland said.
The Sality virus disabled virus protection software, then raced through the town's systems, shutting down 50 servers and infecting computers at facilities including Town Hall, 401 Main St., Brookwood Hall and MacArthur Airport.
Within a day, it disrupted such activities as tax collection, code enforcement, and the issuing of permits and licenses.
The town attorney's office and building and code enforcement departments were back online last week. The town clerk's office, which issues licenses and permits and processes birth and death certificates, was up and running yesterday, Cleveland said.
So was MacArthur, he said.
Islip has reported the attack to Suffolk police and the district attorney's office, Nolan said, and the town's technology staff has been installing new security measures.
MacArthur Airport is managed by the town and operates on two networks: one shared with Islip and one that is independent. The virus struck both, but technology staff managed to disconnect the independent network before much damage was done, Cleveland said.
No server data were lost, he said, although some individual hard drives lost files.
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