Syracuse University requires that antivirus software be installed and running on all computers connected to the University's network. The University's license for McAfee antivirus software provides faculty and staff access to free copies of the software for their office computers. Information about obtaining the software is available by e-mailing consult@syr.edu or by contacting the local departmental computing support person.

Free copies of McAfee are also provided to students who are connected to ResNet. Further information about the ResNet antivirus program is available on the Web at http://its.syr.edu/rescom/antivirus/.

Once installed, antivirus software must be regularly updated so that it can detect and eliminate the latest viruses that attack your computer. ITS recommends that you either manually check for updates for your antivirus software weekly, or configure your computer to automatically check for updates on a daily basis. In addition, you should completely scan your system for viruses at least once a week.

Computer software often has security holes that can be found and exploited by viruses, worms, and Trojans. When security holes are discovered, software companies post patches and fixes on their Web sites; however, it is up to computer owners to apply the patches to their machines.

To ensure that your computer is updated with the latest security patches and fixes, visit the company Web sites on a regular basis. If you are running a Microsoft Windows operating system (XP, Vista, etc) you can configure your computer to automatically check for updates to the software, or visit http://www.microsoft.com/security/protect/ every week to check for the latest updates.

Information about obtaining security updates for Macintosh operating systems is available on the Web at http://www.info.apple.com/usen/security/index.html

Never open e-mail attachments unless you confirm the source and are expecting the attachment. Do not open attachments with file extensions such as ".VBS", ".EXE", or any extension with which you are not familiar.

Beware of "spoofed" e-mail addresses in the "from" message box. The address may contain a name you recognize, but the person may not have sent the message. Hijacking e-mail addresses is a technique used by spammers and virus programs.

When in doubt, delete all suspicious e-mail messages. Do not reply to the sender. The act of responding to suspicious e-mail will validate your e-mail address and may result in future e-mail harassment. Bottomline: If something looks unusual in an e-mail, DELETE IT!