Faculty and staff computers provided by OIT come with virus scanners installed, Sophos Anti-virus for the PC and Norton Anti-virus for the Mac.
Students can download Sophos for PC from http://sophos.williams.edu and Norton for Mac from http://www.williams.edu/go/software.
A virus scanner is only effective if the virus definitions are up to date (within days). Old virus definitions cannot adequately protect against the latest threats. Norton and Sophos are set to update automatically. An anti-virus software without updated definitions is worse than having nothing as it leads to a false sense of security.
To verify that you have up to date definitions: On the PC, hover your mouse pointer over the Sophos blue flower (version 4 - you need to upgrade) or the Sophos blue shield (version 6) in the task bar next to the time. A date will pop up. It should be within 2 days of todays date. If not, right-click the blue flower and select update now. On the Mac, click the yellow-black circle in the menu bar next to the time. Select LiveUpdate, Update Everything Now.
We now have a virus scanner that automatically checks the emails going through our mail server. Other email accounts (Hotmail, Yahoo, etc) which you can access while on our network are not being scanned by our system although it is likely they have their own scan. This means that if you open an attachment from an alternate account your computer can become infected. Also bear in mind that anti-virus definitions always come out AFTER a virus is introduced to the Internet. There may be one or two day delay between the propagation of the virus and our ability to detect it.
If a virus is detected in your Williams email, the virus scanner will delete it, preventing infection. Our mail scanner also blocks attachments of obvious virus type, like .exe, .bat, .com.
Safe Computing Practices
Applying common sense along with an updated virus scanner is your best defense:
Do not open any attachments you weren't expecting to receive. If you don't want to delete it immediately, contact the sender to verify that the attachment is safe. Viruses spoof their return addresses. Even emails that appear to come from trusted colleagues and family members could contain viruses.
Keep your computer patched with Critical Updates (especially for Microsoft XP and 2000). Set your computer to download and install patches automatically. Viruses and worms can travel over the network and infect vulnerable computers without you having to do anything!
Keep your firewall on. This will generally prevent unauthorized access or viruses from reaching your computer.
Don't download software from the Internet and run it unless you trust the source.
One common method of virus propagation is through file sharing programs (Napster, Gnutella, KaZaa, eMule, etc). The email virus scanner will not protect you from viruses obtained through those programs. Use at your own risk.
Do not trust email messages from "administrator" or "admin." All official messages from OIT will have the subject line "OIT Eph Notice mm/dd/yy."
Just as viruses can spread via email, hoaxes can spread as well. Most of us have received the JDBGMGR.EXE alert about a virus that is undetectable. The email instructs you to locate this file and delete it. This happens to be a legitimate Windows file. This email has been propagated for years across the internet by well intentioned individuals. When in doubt, check with the Williams College support desk.
