IIM-A names 2 viruses that caused CAT chaos

If they had used Linux systems with Firefox browsers, none of these issues would have risen. There is no reason not to use anything other than Linux for an application that needs just a browser. As an IT Security Professional, I know NIMDA as a virus is more than a couple of years old, and Conficker is also close to a year old now. It is nothing but a failure to diligently apply security patches and antivirus to operating systems, patches which OS manufacturers will not provide to pirated OS users. IIM has the best brains in the world and would be better if technology is not the excuse, but technology management is. This is nothing but negligence on the part of the test lab owners/managers.

They should be using a more secure platform like Linux. Windows is well known for these virus attacks. No amount of anti virus software can help when software of this scale (2.5 Lakh students) is deployed. It is strange how management gurus can make these silly mistakes of trusting a well known vulnerable platform. Still it is hard to believe that a virus attack could cause the problem on such a vast scale and nothing could be done. IF there was a virus attack and exam is conducted on separate local server, not on internet then it means that security has been breached. Now it puts up a question mark on integrity and fairness of exam.

This is shameful, if true. W 32 Nimda, one of the viruses named is a virus first discovered in September 2001 with a risk assessment as medium by McAfee . Mcrosoft itself has provided a windows patch to defend against the other virus Conflicer. Each and every anti virus package of any repute available of the shelf would detect these two viruses. How then could the centres not discover them? I can only assume that the systems did not have any anti virus package installed in the first place, or were relying on some outdated free versions. Linux systems would have been a best choice.What if this virus has attacked has copied the exam questions and posted it to the Virus owner!!!!!

Such highly acclaimed and prestigious test should be conducted by observing all possible problems that occur to computer systems. Rescheduling of CAT exams of suffered candidates depriciates their confidence level. The solution is to use Linux systems(Ubuntu, Fedora) to have a virus free and secure system so that online test be conducted in an easy way. Security and firewall in Windows is of worst standards as u can see each it is attacked by hundreds of viruses. Had that been a virus problem,it could have detected well before. It doesn't take three days to detect that. Mind you NIIT was given half part to conduct these exam. Being an IT company they also not taking care of Viruses,Malware,Phishing etc. things? Surprising. Its Just typical Indian things to sort out matter in casually saying it was a Virus problem. Absolutely Rubbish. They should use SOPHOS ANTIVIRUS....... Government don't want to spend any money on the system ......and then they want to make excuse......

The Conflicer and NIMDA viruses have been patched by all RELIABLE antivirus softwares for a long time now! If the CAT testing center's computers weren't patched and protected against these, then it just means that there's either been a huge oversight or that stringent standard weren't imposed and/or followed or both! Either way, it doesn't reflect well on the way Prometric and NIIT do their job, and the IIMs just display an amazing lack of management for a set of Universities considered to be the pinnacle of management education in India! Are they taking a leaf out of the book followed by the companies that were responsible for the recent worldwide economic downturn? There are so many things that could have been done right. Simple things. Like management and enforcement of systems and procedures. This has just been a major mess up. It shows us exactly how you SHOULDN'T do something!

I find this amazing really. The very institutions that are "supposed" to epitomize excellence in management, cannot manage its own entry evaluation systems ! Of a bigger concern is the fact that this "mismanagement" not entirely new to IIMs. I had the "misfortune" of taking the CAT sometime way back in the early 80s, when the good old paper and pencil ruled the roost, but when the rot in systems in so deep rooted, you can trust them to find ingenious ways to goof up anyhow, and boy...they sure did make a royal mess of it. It started of with a few wrongly interpreted instructions to the center's invigilators, which fortunately corrected itself with loss of less than a few minutes. The blunder was in the form of a number of question booklets that were not bound properly, in my case, missing a few pages, having a few duplicate pages and not serially stapled. Needless to say, I dropped the exam when my request to set right the situation was met with dumb silence from the ignorant invigilators. The icing on the cake of blunders was the reply from IIMc to my subsequent letter outlining the issues, which mentioned something like "this kind of problem happens in a few question booklets every year" and went on to mention, "we will ensure that your chances of selection are not prejudiced due to the mistake". Now even a few decades later, I sometimes used to wonder, how or what ingenious way could there have been to ensure that evaluation was fair when the question booklet itself was incomprehensible. Luckily, I set my sights on doing CA immediately thereafter. and thank God for that. The "virus" and /or "technical glitch" does answer some questions. The root cause is the "chalta hai" attitude with a distinct lack of thoroughness even in the most critical of processes, in virtually every aspect of our lives. The IIMs are no exception.