Some computers at the Institute of Art and Design in Mosta have been infected by malware that moves the contents of pen drives into hidden files, leading students to think precious information has been deleted.

Technicians are currently working on permanently resolving this difficulty

A student at the institute, which forms part of the Malta College of Arts Science and Technology, contacted The Times to complain that computers have had a virus for the past two months.

The young woman said this virus kept deleting the content of pen drives – an important tool for art and design students who work with images.

An Mcast spokesman confirmed there was a problem with five workstations used by students.

However, he explained, they were infected by malware, which was different from a virus.

Viruses, worms, Trojans and bots are all part of a class of software called malware. Short for malicious software, it comes about when a code or software specifically designed to cause damage finds its way into a computer.

The Mcast spokesman said: “Through this malware, data saved on USB pen drives attached to these computers is converted to a hidden file.

“Other than that, the computer continues to operate normally.

“Some users who experienced this difficulty may have thought that the files on their pen drives were deleted.”

He added that when the problem first cropped up IT technicians were immediately called to remove it.

Technicians also informed the institute’s staff about how users could retreive the hidden files and remove the malware from infected pen drives, so that they could guide students accordingly.

“However, the malware re-emerged in some other workstations, through the inadvertant use of infected pen drives.

“The technicians are currently working on permanently resolving this difficulty,” the Mcast spokesman added.