CERN’s shelter for computer mice a reminder that pests hide on the Internet

[CERN’s shelter for computer mice is meant to serve as a reminder for researches to avoid malware on the web / CERN Animal Shelter for Computer Mice]

The European Organization for Nuclear Research – or CERN – is best known for having the largest particle physics laboratory in the world. A lesser-known fact is that it’s also home to the Animal Shelter for Computer Mice.

Stefan Lueders, a computer security officer at CERN, tells Vice’s Motherboard that the shelter was started as an April Fools joke five years ago, to warn employees about the dangers of clicking on malware or phishing links.

The web page for the shelter features photos of mice “in the hay,” “cuddling” in a pile and “panicking” as a cat paws at them. A message from the site’s sponsor (a wolf dressed in sheep’s clothing) appears at the bottom of the site. It reads “Stop – Think – Click” and warns visitors of malicious web-links.

“If you look at computer security, one of the most dangerous things is people clicking on random links,” Lueders tells Motherboard. “Everything that has a blue line, they click on it and you never know what you get.”

The shelter closed briefly in 2012 after it was destroyed by a storm, but has since reopened. The refuge for computer mice is also a part of CERN’s official tour.