HIID Wasn't Hit by Michelangelo

To the Editors of The Crimson:

Your Saturday, March 7, article "Harvard Fights Viral Attack" was sadly lacking in accuracy regarding the circumstances at the Harvard Institute for International Development (HIID).

HIID made no report of any computer "crash," or virus attack, or data loss, to any "hotline."

Thanks to the voluntary efforts of a number of our staff, several of our machines were discovered to have "Michelangelo" in residence. Without exception, it was detected and destroyed before it could activate. Nor did the presence of the virus surprise us, given the inherent increased risk associated with our scope of activity.

Unfortunately, The Crimson seems to identify with the concept of a data-destroying virus. Contrary to your "contributing reporter's" report, I advised HIID's only problem was a (coincidental) mechanical failure of a hard disk, which occurred while scanning an old XT for any sign of infection. The data involved was recovered, and the disk replaced.

Further supporting the "reporter as virus" thesis, and serving as the impetus for this correction of the record, the gist of your erroneous information was spread by the Gazette in their March 13 issue, without an attempt to confirm its accuracy. (Assuming the Gazette was otherwise correct, Harvard suffered no losses due to this most recent viral nuisance.) Joseph G. Sharp   Manager, Facilities   and Administrative services