To enhance the security of campus managed computers IT is moving from Malwarebytes to Microsoft Defender on PCs and Macs. Mac users will notice a new icon on the menu bar and a new Microsoft Defender application. The transition for PCs will be seamless with enhanced security features enabled on the existing Defender installations. These enhanced features will help detect and remediate vulnerabilities and attacks in real time. Malwarebytes will be removed from all campus managed computers. The removal process should happen in the background and should not require user intervention.

ITSS will be providing a much larger catalog of software updates to campus PCs beginning in the coming weeks.

Improving and expanding software updates will reduce the risk unpatched software represents to campus systems.

ITSS will be using the Updates mechanism in the Software Center, the same system that delivers monthly system updates. It will contain many more titles, depending on what you have installed.

Because of the frequent changes to some software (Chrome, Firefox, Zoom, and others) we will be sending these updates out more frequently. In testing so far, almost all updates do not require a restart. Any updates requiring a restart will be delivered during monthly patches, when a restart is expected. A few of the updates will prompt you to close the program in order to succeed. When closing the program is required, the prompts can be deferred up to 5 times before the program is closed, and the updates install.

Malwarebytes Enterprise will replace ESET anti malware on all campus-managed Macintosh desktops. ESET will be removed from Macs by December 2020. This process will begin at 7:00 AM, Monday November 23rd.

This is a centrally managed version of Malwarebytes that will be automatically installed. No action is required on your part. The installation is different from the home version, and can’t be individually installed.

This is the first phase of a broader rollout to campus, including campus-managed PCs.

The End Of Life (EOL) for Adobe Flash Player is December 31st 2020. 

All remaining Flash Player installations on university computers will be removed by December 31. No further installations will be permitted, as per Adobe, and for the security of the campus. 

If you have content that requires Flash Player to display, you must figure out an alternative method. See Adobe’s article at https://www.adobe.com/products/flashplayer/end-of-life.html for details.