Windows OS Patching, Anti-Virus and Spyware

The Internet is a dangerous place for un-patched machines. There are many viruses that spread using security holes left open in your computer. The following gives information regarding some precautions you can make to reduce the chance of infection.

Regularly patch your computer

Make sure you use an operating system that is supported by the manufacturer (not end of life) and that you install updates regularly - preferably enable automatic updates so it happens in the background, and ensure your computer is restarted when required to complete installation.

Keep your anti-virus software up-to-date

Copies of Sophos Endpoint anti-virus are free for University members.

Remove spyware

Some programs monitor your activity on the internet for marketing purposes. There are many tools available that remove them, for example:

• Malwarebytes
• SuperAntiSpyware

As well as protecting your privacy and security, users have reported that the removal of spyware dramatically increases their computers performance and appear to be less prone to random crashes.

Do not run as an administrator

If you inadvertently download malware from an email or the web, running as administrator allows it to replace critical system files or break your computer entirely. Some viruses are known to wipe your computer's data, or even the computer's flash BIOS rendering the whole computer useless. The only recovery from this type of virus may be a new motherboard or an expensive trip to a computer engineer who has the equipment to re-flash your BIOS. When you're running your computer as a non-administrator, the operating system protects these files.

If you need to perform some activity as administrator, hold down CTRL while you right click the mouse over the icon and choose "Run as".

Ensure your administrator password is set to something secure

Having an empty administrator password or a trivial one, e.g. "password" or "admin" is another way that certain types of virus may propagate. Set it to something that is not obvious but that you will remember.