McAfee to be Replaced by Microsoft's Forefront Anti Virus

Wed, 07 Mar 2012 10:31:46 -0500
news

Starting the week of March 26th the Division of Information Technology (DoIT) will begin phasing out McAfee as our antivirus (AV) software and moving to Microsoft’s AV software named Forefront. This is being done to provide the campus with better virus and malware protection. DoIT has been testing Microsoft’s Forefront software for eight (8) months and it has consistently exceeded McAfee detection and removal capabilities. You do not need to do anything to get this software if your machine is in Active Directory as it will be installed automatically. If you have any questions please contact the technology support center at x53838. Why is this being done? Microsoft antivirus/antimalware software (name Forefront) offers superior protection over McAfee. There is also the added benefit of Forefront being less expensive than McAfee What about my home computer? For our customers using McAfee at home we recommend installing Microsoft Security Essentials which is the home version of the client we will be using on campus. It is a free download and will remove McAfee cleanly upon installation. Security Essentials will automatically be updated every day as well as when you install your monthly system updates from Microsoft. http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows/products/security-essentials I’m a Mac user, what does this mean for me? For our Mac users we recommend using one of the free antivirus software packages listed below. http://www.sophos.com/en-us/products/free-tools/sophos-antivirus-for-mac-home-edition/faqs.aspx http://www.clamxav.com/ Do I need to install anything on my work computer? No, if your computer is part of UMBC’s Active Directory this software will be automatically installed for you and McAfee will be automatically removed. If you have a PC and are not joined to Active Directory please see our software downloads page for the Forefront installer http://www.umbc.edu/downloads/mcafee/ When is this happening? DoIT will begin installing Forefront the week of March 26th. Several departments will get the software each day with a completion date of April 27th for the entire campus to be moved over. Will I notice anything? Yes, during the installation you will see the McAfee v-shield icon disappear and be replaced by a shield enclosed in a green box. You can continue to use your computer while DoIT installs the software as we have not seen any noticeable performance impact on the desktop PC. I’m not comfortable updating my computer, can I get help? Yes, please contact our technology support center and one of our staff would be happy to walk you through the installation process I don’t want to switch right now, can I keep using McAfee? Yes, your current version will continue to receive updates from McAfee but DoIT strongly recommends you change your antivirus software as soon as time permits.