Action required: malware protection upgrade

September 15, 2017

University Relations

To maintain safe and secure computing environments, the Office of Information Technology will coordinate the upgrade of the virus and malware protection software Symantec Endpoint Protection starting Monday, Sept. 18. Having the latest security software is one of the best defenses against viruses, malware, and other online threats.

What is changing?
The virus and malware protection software, Symantec Endpoint Protection, will be upgraded to version 14 MP2.

How will this affect me?
You’ll be able to choose when you’d like to run this upgrade through Thursday, 11:59 p.m., Sept. 21. After that the upgrade will run automatically. This upgrade will automatically restart your computer twice, and any unsaved work will be lost. To avoid this, save your work first and then choose the time to upgrade that best fits your schedule. 

Why is this changing?
SEP 14 MP2 is a major version upgrade from the currently deployed version. SEP is the security suite used across the University of Alaska system and includes the following features: antivirus, intrusion prevention, file behavior monitoring, application and device control, memory exploit mitigation, reputation analysis, machine learning, and more.

What actions do I need to take?
Windows users need to save and close any work before starting the upgrade or before leaving their workstation Thursday evening. The upgrade for Windows will be available to run at your convenience until Friday, Sept. 22, at 12:01 a.m., at which time the upgrade process will automatically occur. Any documents left open and unsaved before the upgrade process is started will be lost when the computer is restarted during the installation process.

The upgrade for macOS will run at the scheduled time, Friday, Sept.22, at 12:01 a.m. Once the upgrade is completed, you will be prompted to restart your computer at your convenience. Unlike the Windows upgrade, there is not an option to run the upgrade early.

Anyone with a laptop outside the university network during the scheduled upgrade time will have the upgrade run when the laptop returns to the university network.

Interested in the technical details?
The technical details for the upgrade are available on the OIT site.

If you have questions or concerns please contact the OIT Service Desk.