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Antivirus software update in progress

The university is moving from Kaspersky to Microsoft Defender

June 5, 2023 — 

The university has initiated a project to replace Kaspersky, our current anti-virus product, with Microsoft Defender on all university-owned computers by July 13, 2023.

The switch from Kaspersky to MS Defender for endpoints and servers provides the university with a more comprehensive, unified and automated approach to endpoint security.

“This change moves our key protection to Microsoft, a cornerstone partner. Kaspersky is a Russian company, and due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, there are concerns that a ban on Russian software could occur in Canada as it did in the USA. We avoid any unnecessary disruptions of service by making the switch to Microsoft now,” says Patrick McCarthy, director of IST Information Security and Compliance.

The installation of MS Defender and removal of Kaspersky will occur in the background on most workstations. Your computer will require a restart after the installation. If this does not happen automatically, you may be prompted to initiate the restart.

Thank you for your support and cooperation.

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