F-Secure anti-virus software

If you regularly introduce files to your computer system which have come from somewhere else (for instance on floppy disk or downloaded from the Web or by email), it is sensible practice to have some kind of virus protection on your computer. There is some advice on computer viruses in the web page at:

http://www.st-and.ac.uk/ITS/faq/virus/index.html

IT Services has recently renewed its licence for the F-Secure family of anti-virus software. (This product was previously known as F-Prot.) The terms of the site licence are that the software can be installed on any of the University's computers and also on machines owned by staff and by students. The cost of the licence will be borne by IT Services and therefore there is no charge to users or departments for this software. Software is available for each of the Microsoft platforms, namely DOS, Windows 3.x, Windows 9x and Windows NT. There are also versions available for NT and Netware servers.

In the Windows 95 version, you have the options of:

installing a Gatekeeper
- a program which scans all program files and documents when they are accessed
background scanning
- the program will scan the memory and disk files for viruses when the system is idle
tools to scan particular parts of the system e.g. a folder or a floppy disk.

One of the key aspects of this type of software is that it is is regularly updated to keep track of new viruses and new techniques. The F-Secure software will be regularly updated over the period of the licence agreement which runs for three years. If you have an old version of F-Secure or, especially, if you have the F-Prot program, you should think about updating your software.

Information on how to get your copy of F-Secure can be found at the IT Services web page:

http://www.st-and.ac.uk/ITS/pub/sw/site/index.html

If the methods described there are not suitable for your system then you can order a copy directly from IT Services. (Please indicate which operating system you require.) Orders using this route will incur a small administrative charge.

Should you be of a technical persuasion and would like more information about F-Secure, we suggest you start at the web page:

http://www.europe.datafellows.com/anti-virus/prodinfo