Computer virus affecting Dow Jones

Lucia Moses of Adweek writes about how a computer virus has hit the employees at Dow Jones & Co., the parent of The Wall Street Journal.

Moses writes, “The timing of the infection, which hit May 12, was ominous, as 34 employees represented by the Independent Association of Publishers’ Employees, most of them techs, got actual pink slips a few days earlier. ‘Everybody’s saying that somebody left it as a going-away present,’ a Dow Jones employee said. But Steve Yount, IAPE’s president, said he understood the virus was ‘’complicated and intricate’ enough that it could not have been loaded and triggered  in the time frame of Tuesday to Thursday.’ The company is investigating the cause.

“While the company ensured employees that its servers, network, and data weren’t compromised, the virus slowed down computers, and employees have been bombarded with voicemail and email messages ordering them to power down their computers until they can be cleaned. Emails spoke of a prescription drug-like ‘stinger’ that was being used on ‘infected PCs’ to ‘eradicate the active virus’ and of the virus morphing so that antivirus software was ineffective, leading staffers to joke about the side effects of the antibacterial soap in the bathroom.

“By May 18, the company had determined that the virus was designed to steal credentials from banking websites and directed employees not to use any banking sites for the time being. ‘It was a hassle and a pain in the butt,’ said another employee.”

Read more here.