IT Know-How: Is your Anti-virus up to date?

18 Apr 2013

Tips to help you get the most out of IT Services.

Keeping your anti-virus software up to date is really important, both at work and at home. Having out of date software can mean that latest viruses are not detected and these may harm your data or enable criminals to access your personal data , for example bank and credit card details.

Your work PC or laptop anti-virus software can be checked using the following instructions (please note there are separate insructions for McAfee and Sophos software):

If you use McAfee anti-virus software

You can check it’s up to date now, by following these simple steps:

1. In the bottom right corner of your screen, right-click on the shield icon with the letter ‘M’ or ‘V’ inside it (you may need to left click the arrow first);
2. A menu will appear - select ‘About’;
3. A window of information will pop-up up on screen.  Look to check the ‘DAT created on’ date. (Note this may be in UK or US format);
4. If this date is within the last couple of days, your anti-virus software should be up to date.

If the ‘DAT created on’ date is more than a few days old, then your antivirus software may not be updating correctly and you should contact the IT Service Desk for advice.

If you use Sophos antivirus software

Follow these steps:

1. Right click the shield icon with the letter ‘S’ inside it (Mac users can just click the icon);
2. A menu will appear – select ‘Update Now’;
3. A window of information will appear with a ‘Last checked’ date;
4. If this date is within the last couple of days, your anti-virus software should be up to date. If not, contact the IT Service Desk for advice.