Minimum Workstation and Software Site License Subcommittee Minutes

 

October 16, 2003
Meeting in AH-1120 at 10 a.m.
Diana Osborn, Chair

McAfee Update
Diana Osborn announced a new version of Virex for Mac OS X has recently been placed on the ROHAN website.

Celia Chavez said that for the extra license just purchased on 9/29/03, SDSU has purchased 1 year of Prime Support. January 9, 2004 is the end of the Prime Support on the previous purchases. It was noted that after January 9, 2004 every campus copy of McAfee needs to be pointing to the ROHAN website for their dat updates. This is because only Prime Support customers can get it from the Network Associates website. A suggestion was made that IT staff should make the Network Associates website as a secondary choice now, so it can be disabled easily later.

Bob Hilchey picked up 3 boxes of media and documents for Diana to evaluate. After Diana has completed the evaluation, Celia will announce what packages and reference materials are available. Home use option for faculty and staff has been approved. We are awaiting more information from NAI as to when we can implement this option. When this happens, John Ross will be making the announcement. Sales and Engineering from Network Associates is trying to schedule a meeting with Celia and Diana. If you have issues with McAfee or Network Associates, please email them to Diana Osborn.

Discussion continued on whether or not SDSU should stay with the McAfee products. Bob Hart mentioned that VirusScan 7 for servers is easier to work with and the issues of previous versions have pretty much been resolved.

Panther Update
Celia Chavez announced that $5 media for Panther would be ordered today for the Mac Tap Program users.

Ad-aware vs. Spybot
Research and evaluation is continuing on Ad-aware (Plus or Professional) 6.0 versus Spybot Search and Destroy v1.2.

• Ad-aware Plus v6.0 - Long a favorite tool of computer users looking to rid their systems of annoying adware and spyware, Ad-aware Plus offers real-time protection, much as antivirus software does in blocking virus threats. Many of us are familiar with the free version of Ad-aware, which removes unwanted adware and spyware after they land on your PC. The Plus version offers more proactive features, such as real-time monitoring for blocking pop-up ads. It also prevents home-page switches in your Web browser, and it prohibits Web site-based Active-X programs from installing on your PC. Finally, the program lets you back up adware components before you remove them, in case you accidentally cripple one you want, such as Kazaa.

• Spybot Search and Destroy v1.2 - Search your hard disk for so-called spybots or adbots, the modules that are responsible for showing ads and transmitting information back to vendors. If Spybot Search and Destroy finds such modules, it will remove them or replace them with empty dummies. In most cases, the host software still runs after removing the bot. Among the adbots Spybot targets: Aureate, CLPRS, Comet Cursors, eZula HotText, Gator, GoHip, Radiate, WebHancer, and WildTangent. The program allows you to update by subscribing to the author's mailing list. Finally, Spybot removes your usage tracks (last visited Web sites, opened files, started programs, and cookies), so even spybots that are unknown can't transmit this private information. The program supports all three major browsers: Internet Explorer, Netscape Communicator, and Opera.

Many dollars would be required for Ad-aware, while Spybot is free. Ad-aware has 2 versions and some features that are not specifically mentioned in Spybot. Ad-aware's Plus version is equivalent to Spybot's features. Ad-aware's Professional version has the ability to scan mapped drives on servers. The Educational maintenance fee is 10% less than the Corporate charges. All members were asked to send their comments on the two packages via email to Diana Osborn.

For further information on the packages, see Ad-aware or Spybot .

Software Survey
Cyndi mentioned that David Oehl is helping on the modifications of the Software Survey database/web interface. Plans are to break the survey into 3 surveys; one for labs, a second for servers, and a third for desktop workstations. Also a range of versions may be asked for on each package, as well as an indication of how many upgrades of a version your area is planning.

Patch Management Working Group
Diana Osborn announced that the Patch Management Working Group has decided on 3 products for demos and the committee has seen 2 of the demos. The products are PatchLink, St. Bernard, and Service Patch Manager.

Calendar Committee Update
Diana Osborn announced that the preliminary report from the Calendar Committee is currently being reviewed.

Next MWSSLS meeting will be on November 20, 2003 at 1 pm in AH-1120.

PLEASE NOTE: The statements found on the MWSSLS Home Page are for informational purposes only. While every effort is made to ensure that this information is up to date and accurate, official information can be found in the University publications.

Last modified on October 23, 2003
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