EFS Network Management encourages users and administrators to check your antivirus software for desktops and servers.

The antivirus software should be reviewed bi-weekly for known security issues and known stability issues. Your antivirus software should be checked to ensure that it is functioning correctly. We tend to get complacent and not think to check our antivirus software.

Sometimes the software may stop getting its daily updates for various reasons. The antivirus software might be expired and it needs to be renewed with the vendor. A firewall setting may have been enabled and now the firewall is blocking the updates. It could be the desktop firewall or the network firewall. A group policy might have been enabled that blocks the updates, by accident. Malware maybe blocking the updates. A new security update might have broken the antivirus updates software. The service could have been disabled during a troubleshooting session and never turned back on. The antivirus software might have been uninstalled to address an issue and the antivirus software never got re-installed. The antivirus software may no longer be compatible with the current version of software that your are running.

There are many more reasons why the antivirus software may not be working. So it is very important to check that it is working and that it is up to date.

• Check the antivirus definition files and they should be within a few days of the current date.
• Check the last time that the operating system had a full virus scan.
• Check the antivirus history files and logs.
• Check the antivirus quarantine and delete all files if they are not critical.
• Check the antivirus expiration date, if the one being used is not a free version.
• Check the antivirus exclusion paths and make sure that they are not excluding critical systems.
• Check the antivirus software for services that may not be working, especially if you are running an antivirus/malware suite.
• Search the web or Youtube on “How to’s” for your version of antivirus software” make sure the information is coming from a reputable source. This will empower you with working knowledge of your antivirus software.
• If it has been a while since your last deep scan, update your antivirus software, boot into safe mode for Windows computers and run a full system scan.
• If you suspect you have malware, then a bootable antivirus software may be needed in order to deal with the malware.
• While checking for antivirus, check for the last good backup of the operating system and create recovery disks or jump drives if you do not have them.

If issues do arise from checking your antivirus or you need assistance please open a EFS Network Management Support Request and we will take a look at the issues or you can contact us for help.