Anti-virus Software

The Virus Policy at Auburn University states that everyone in the Auburn University computing community is expected to take precautions to protect their computers against viruses. Therefore, Auburn provides powerful virus protection, available campus-wide for download to your computer.

General Info

• AU Policy Regarding Viruses
• Common Hoaxes

  Hoax or not?

  If you receive an e-mail and you are not sure if it is a hoax or actual threat to your computer, you can view the web sites below to verify the information:

  Sites about hoaxes:

  • http://www.snopes.com/computer/virus
  • http://www.stiller.com/hoaxa.htm

  Legitimate virus listings:

  • http://www.authentium.com/threatmatrix/
  • http://vil.mcafee.com/

• AU Quarantine Page

  Computers that have been detected to have the following conditions may be placed into the AU Quarantine Network until the issue has been resolved.

  • Your computer has a virus or worm
  • You have a blank or common password
  • You are committing copyright violations
  • Your computer's security has been compromised

  If you ever find yourself looking at this page, you will need to contact the OIT HelpDesk at (334) 844-4944. They will provide you with the necessary information and tasks required to move your system back on to the normal Auburn University network.

• Sophos Anti-Virus for Windows User Manual

How-To

• Determine which Sophos product version is installed on your computer
• Submit Spam and False-positive Spam Samples to Sophos
• Submit Samples of Suspicious files to Sophos

Troubleshooting

• Setting an exclusion when On-Access Scanning Slows Down Thunderbird

  Solution: Add the following file exclusion to on-access scanning in Sophos Anti-Virus:

  1. Open Sophos Anti-Virus | Configure Sophos Anti-Virus | On-access Scanning | Exclusions
  2. Click the 'Add' button
  3. Under 'Item Type' choose 'Folder' and then browse to the folder containing the 'Sent' file, as in the example below:
     C:\Documents and Settings\[UserName]\Application Data\Thunderbird\Profiles\[Folder]\Mail\
  4. Select the 'Sent' file, click OK, and then click Apply.
• Sophos Anti-Virus System Tray Icon not Displayed

  Solution: The Sophos Anti-Virus system tray icon may not be displayed. In this case, the ability to display desktop messages may be lost until the icon is redisplayed,although Sophos Anti-Virus does continue to detect threats.

  To redisplay the icon, on the taskbar:

  • Click Start
  • Click Programs
  • Click Startup
  • Click AutoUpdate Monitor
• Checking the Sophos Log Files For More Information

  If the Sophos Anti Virus program has problems during installation, a log file is created that contains information explaining the problem. These log files are located in your computer's operating system temp folder. To find this folder:

  • Right-click My Computer and left-click Explore.
  • In the Address area, type: %windir%\temp

  And press ENTER.

  • Look for a .txt file that starts with: "Sophos Anti-Virus Install Log".

  Double-click this file to open it to find an explanation of your problem.

  If your previously installed anti-virus product does not uninstall correctly, the "Sophos Anti-Virus Competitor List.txt" log file will be created in the Temp directory. This file will provide information about what is preventing Sophos from installing.

For additional information on Sophos Anti-Virus, please visit: http://www.sophos.com

Last Updated: Jan. 30, 2012