Preventive measures

As in medicine, “prevention is better than cure”.

In order to protect files and systems from viruses and, if necessary, to clean them, there are computer programs specifically for this purpose, so-called virus scanners.

Protection programs against malware such as viruses are also used on all IT systems at TU Dortmund University, if available. In particular, it is important that all computers at the TU Dortmund are also protected by such virus protection software.

For this purpose, the virus protection software “Microsoft Defender” is installed on all administrative computers of the TU Dortmund. In particular, for all other computers belonging to the TU Dortmund, the virus protection software “Sophos” can also be downloaded free of charge.

Every private PC should also always be protected by an up-to-date virus scanner.

The virus scanner must be set so that all data is checked for viruses when it is opened (“On Access”). In addition, the virus scanner must never be switched off. File uploads must be switched off. In addition, it should update itself at least daily. If, contrary to expectations, a message appears that the scanner is out of date, please inform the Service Desk of the ITMC or your IT representative directly. Additionally, the virus scanner should be set to scan the entire system for viruses once a week (“On Demand”).

If two anti-virus software programs are active on one computer at the same time, they should not both be set to “On Access”. Instead, they should share the two functionalities “On Access” and “On Demand” between them.

Even an up-to-date virus scanner does not offer 100% protection. Therefore, you should store your data on central network drives, where a central data backup is performed at appropriate intervals. If access to central servers is not possible, the data can be temporarily stored locally.