By Jonathan Smith, Managing Editor

Technology support administrators said they are pleased with the results of Sophos anti-virus software, which was provided to students and installed on university-owned computers at the beginning of the semester.

Darrell Fauvel, software support analyst, said the software has been most successful with faculty- and university-owned computers because they can be centrally managed and software updates put out by Sophos can be automatically downloaded, giving the most up-to-date virus protection.

Kay Reeves, director of technology support, said one of the biggest holes in the software comes from not keeping it up-to-date.

“We need to make sure people know how important it is to have anti-virus software and how important it is to keep it up-to-date,” Reeves said.

Kirit Chandran, Team 55 student supervisor, said once students become more familiar with the software it should become more effective.

“Like any new software, it takes time to get used to the usage,” said Chandran, senior computer science major from Bombay, India.

Fauvel said the university decided to switch from McAfee anti-virus software to Sophos this semester for several reasons. He said Sophos requires less space on a hard drive, offers protection for various platforms such as Microsoft Windows, Macintosh and Linux operating systems, is cheaper and provides more frequent software updates-sometimes daily.

Fauvel said he likes Sophos because “they’re on the forefront of keeping up to date” and “they have a strong footing with corporations and universities.”

Reeves said an initial site license was paid to Sophos and now they can provide the software to students and faculty for free.

Students can obtain the software from Team 55, and CDs have been available in the residence halls. Chandran said Team 55 workers can also install the software onto any computer they work on. He said they also will assist students currently using the software if they need help downloading updates.