For people who already have InoculateIT Personal Edition (IPE) installed, Computer Associates has indicated that the Autodownload features still work. For those people needing a new virus guard/scanner we recommand either upgrading IPE to the commercial version(about $11), e-Trust Antivirus. Or obtain an independent license for eTrust Antvirus(about $20). Or obtain and install a commercial antivirus program like Norton Antivirus 2002 (about $50; corporate version is free to Penn State students, staff, faculty- see below). After the first year, both E-Trust Antivirus and Norton Antivirus 2002 cost about $10 per year for update "subscription" services. Both of these Antivirus tools do support scanning specific folders (like an email Attachment folder, for example). Both keep their software and virus signature files current and easy to update. We do NOT recommend other Norton products (System Works, Utilities, Anti-Crash) which may have Norton Antivirus bundled therein; we do recommend the separate Antivirus product.
Note that the advantage of E-Trust Antivirus is that it's periodic update of virus definition files is less than 1 MB. Norton Antivirus and all other free virus programs below have much larger "updates" - typically larger than 3MB; thus, for a modem Internet connection, considerably more time is needed to do a "Virus Update" when not using E-Trust Antivirus.
There are three other Windows-based free alternatives to e-Trust
or Norton Antivirus as follows:
1) Norton Antivirus 2002 Corporate Edition, Penn State Site
License. See: http://cac.psu.edu/news/symantec.html
Free download for all with an PSU Access Account: https://downloadsym.cac.psu.edu/
Norton Antivirus 2002 Corporate Editoin is also available on the
latest ITS-PAC 5.0 (formerly CACPAC) CD .
NOTE: Norton Antivirus Live Update requires that Internet
Explorer
be installed and WILL NOT WORK UNDER WINDOWS 95.
If you have Windows 95, get E-Trust EZ-Antivirus: http://www.my-etrust.com/products/Antivirus.cfm
2) AVG Antivirus by Grisoft: http://www.grisoft.com/doc/10/
This free version does not enjoy the same level of support by the
vendor as their commercial version does. Runs under all versions of
Windows.
When a virus is detected by the AVG Guard, it does not offer to remove
the virus but rather suggests that the AVG scanner be run to scan the
whole
disk where the virus was found. Unlike IPE and Antivirus, one must scan
the whole disk (cannot scan just a file or a folder). Updates are
easy and occur about bi-weekly. Updates do not require a
shutdown/restart.
To disable under NT/2000 one must Shutdown the Control Center and stop
the Service (Control Panel, Services) for AVG.
GENERAL NOTES: As is true for many Antivirus guard
programs,
if system maintenance (like Defrag, for example) is done, and the
Antivirus
guard is not disabled, there may be a noticable performance problem.
Typically
right-clicking the icon in the System Tray and choosing Disable or
Close
will "turn off" the
Antivirus Guard.
3) Anti-Virus Personal Edition by H+BEDV Datentechnik GmbH: http://www.free-av.de/
This is supported and runs on all Windows platforms, although
there's
a separate version for Windows NT/2000 and Windows 9x/Me. There is also
a separate version for Linux. This program works similar to IPE,
however unlike IPE, one must scan the whole disk (cannot scan
just
a file or folder). Updates are easy and occur about bi-weekly or more
often.
Updates requires a shutdown/restart. To disable under NT/2000 one
must close the Control Program and stop the Antivirus Service (Control
Panel, Services) for APE.
4) eSafe, Desktop solution by Aladdin: http://www.eSafe.com/esafe/default.asp
This program runs on all Windows platforms (one version). It has
good documentation in a variety of formats. Other eSafe Web pages
include:
eSafe Virus Updates: http://www.eSafe.com/home/csrt/index.asp
and eSafe Support, FAQ, Knowledge Base, Documentation:
http://www.eSafe.com/support/listesafe.asp?pd=eSafe%20Desktop
5) F-PROT Stand-alone Diskettes: http://ftp.aset.psu.edu/pub/dos/virus/fpd.txt
If you have a FAT or FAT32 file system you can create a 3-Diskette
set that will do a stand-alone boot and virus scan of your fixed
disks. You should use the latest virus definition files which can be
downloaded directly from Frisk Software's site: http://www.f-prot.com/download/home_user/
Follow directions given in the fpd.txt file cited above.
INOCULATEIT PERSONAL EDITION UPDATE
As of 7 June 2001, InoculateIT Personal Edition is no longer
available
from Computer Associates . As
of 15 May 2002, InoculateIT Personal Edition will no longer support
virus
definition file updates. Please see Web page: https://www2.my-etrust.com/services/ipe_support.
Penn State people using InoculateIT PE should take the following
actions:
1) Download Norton Antivirus 2002 install file to a specific folder.
This could take as long as 2 hours using a modem; 10-15 minutes via a
PSU
backbone connection. To borrow a CD for Norton Antivirus 2002
please
see: http://cac.psu.edu/news/symantec.html.
Download is free to PSU peope from: http://moc.cac.psu.edu/products/symantec.html
2) Uninstall InoculateIT Personal Edition. Click
Start/Settings/Control
Panel and double-click that Add/Remove Programs icon. Click on
InoculateIT
Personal Edition entry and then click the Add/Remove button to remove
it.
3) Double-click the Norton Antivirus 2002 install file to install.
OTHER NON-FREE ANTI-VIRUS PACKAGES
Several of the following software products are available at
substantial
savings through the CAC Microcomputer Order Center: http://moc.cac.psu.edu/
For a review of long-term testing of these and other virus programs,
please see the Virus Bulletin page: http://www.virusbtn.com/100/vb100sum.html
.
AVG (Grizsoft, Inc) (for Windows 9x/NT/2000): http://www.grisoft.com/html/us_avgpro.cfm
Computer Associates Etrust EZ Antivirus: http://www3.ca.com/Solutions/Product.asp?ID=156
ESet NO32 (for Windows 9x/NT/2000; most awards): http://www.nod32.com/index.html
F-prot Antivirus for Windows 9x/NT (Datafellows): http://www.datafellows.com/
Network Associates (McAfee) Virus Scan: http://www.nai.com/
and http://www.mcafeeb2b.com/
Norton Antivirus: http://www.symantec.com/nav/nav_9xnt/
Macintosh users may also wish to visit Viruses and the Macintosh
FAQ by David Harley: http://www.sherpasoft.org.uk/MacSupporters/macvir.html
Also see:
http://www.faqs.org/faqs/computer-virus/macintosh-faq/
SOME KEY VIRUS INFORMATION REFERENCE WEB PAGES
Anti-Virus.COM - reference links: http://anti-virus.com/x/
AntiVir Personal Edition(free): http://www.free-av.de/
AVG (Grizsoft, Inc.) Antivirus for Windows 9x/NT/2000: http://www.grisoft.com/html/us_index.cfm
Free version for non-profit and
Educatiohnal
use: http://www.grisoft.com/html/us_downl.htm
No technical support for the free version.
Not for Windows Me.
CERT Computer Virus Resources: http://www.us-cert.gov/other_sources/viruses.html
Computer Associates (EZ Antivirus) Virus Information Library:
http://www3.ca.com/virusinfo/
Educause Office of Innformation Technology: http://www.helpdesk.umd.edu/virus/
Eset NOD32 Anti Virus Software: http://www.nod32.com/
F-PROT Free Version: http://www.f-prot.com/download/
also see: http://www.overselfresearch.com/tools_and_utilities.html
AV Defs Updater for F-PROT for DOS: http://www.overselfresearch.com/tools_and_utilities.html
ICSA - Internet Security and Assurance: http://www.icsalabs.com/html/communities/antivirus/index.shtml
KLEZ Worm Information: http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/~af380/antivirus.html#KlezWorm
Latest Virus Information sites: http://cac.psu.edu/infotech/virus.html#news
McAfee Threat Center: http://www.mcafee.com/us/threat_center/default.asp
NIST - National Institutes of Standards Technology: http://www.metro.ch/avpve/
Northern Light Special Edition Computer Viruses: http://special.northernlight.com/compvirus/
On-line (free) Antivirus Scans: http://support.f-secure.com/enu/home/ols.shtml
and
http://housecall.trendmicro.com/
Penn State Virus Web Pages - Good source of vendors,
pointers,
information on computer viruses: http://cac.psu.edu/infotech/virus.html
Also
see: http://aset.its.psu.edu/announcements/ssl_virus.html
Sophos Anti-Virus: http://www.sophos.com/virusinfo/infofeed/
Star Internet Virus Services: http://www.star.net.uk/?/Products/VirusScanning/stats.html
Symantec Antivirus Stand=Alone virus removal tools: http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/tools.list.html
Symantec Antivirus research Center: http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/
Trend Micro: http://www.antivirus.com/
Trend Micro On-Line Virus Scan (via Web): http://housecall.antivirus.com/
University of Maryland Antivirus Site: http://www.helpdesk.umd.edu/virus/infosites.shtml
U.S. Department of Homeland Security Virus Pages: http://www.fedcirc.gov/incidentPrevention/antivirus.html
Virus Bulletin: http://www.virusbtn.com/
and a virus software comparison (over time) chart: http://www.virusbtn.com/vb100/archives/tests.xml?200206
Virus.com, Viruslist.com - Virus Information, Hoaxes, etc.: http://www.virus.com/and
http://www.viruslist.com/and
http://virusall.com/
Virus FAQs: http://www.faqs.org/faqs/computer-virus/
Mini-FAQ alt.comp.virus: http://www.faqs.org/faqs/computer-virus/mini-faq/
Virus Hoax Information - Kept very current; please read this
before you perpetrate any virus alert: http://www.vmyths.com/
Additional hoax information can be found at: http://www.icsa.net/html/communities/antivirus/hoaxes/
http://www.purportal.com/,
and at many of the anti-virus manufacturer's web sites.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
We at the Center for Academic Computing gratefully acknowledge
Peter M. Weiss (retired), Penn State Administrative Information
Services, and Dr.
Geoffrey Wilson for their
many contributions and careful review of this document.