Anti Virus Information (Computer Services)

What is a computer virus?

A computer virus is a program or piece of code that runs on your computer without your knowledge or consent.  Virus’s also have the nasty ability to replicate themselves and infect other computers.

Is a computer virus really a problem?

A computer virus can be a huge problem.  At the minimum a computer virus is a nuisance causing your computer to slowdown or reboot.  A Computer virus can destroy all the data on a computer or even worse pass along sensitive data (usernames, passwords, credit card numbers, PIN numbers, etc) to thieves outside the College.

Computer Services always considers a computer virus to be serious.  If a virus infection gets out of control, it can take between 2 and 5 days of technician time to reign in the problem.

How can I tell if I have a computer virus?

If your computer is running very slow, rebooting or generally operating in a manner that you would not consider to be normal, you may have a computer virus.  If you think that you have this problem, please shutoff your computer and contact the Computer Services Helpdesk immediately at 475-6488 (ext. 6488).   A technician will work with you to determine if your computer has been infected and they will apply an appropriate fix.

What tools does Confederation College use to fight the computer Virus problem?

Confederation College has a multi-layered approach to virus protection.  This includes firewalls, Server Anti-Virus Software, Desktop Anti-Virus software, Email Scanning Anti-Virus software and Personal Firewalls.  These tools are offered to the College community free of charge.

Computer Services installed a PIX firewall to protect our site from the Internet.  This firewall blocks the vast majority of Virus attaches against our computers.  We also encourage the use of personal firewalls on the desktop computers.

Computer Services has installed McAfee Viruscan Anti-Virus software on all of the College owned servers and desktop computers.  This software is updated on a regular basis and protects the both our servers and desktops from infection.

Computer Services runs GroupShield Anti-Virus software on our email server.  Groupshield can remove most viruses that are propagated in email messages.

Computer Security is important to a safe computer experience.