ICT Security Recommendations and Warnings

Norton AntiVirus

This document assumes that you already have the Norton AntiVirus system installed in your PC. If this system is installed in your PC, you will see the "yellow tilted shield" icon appearing at the lower right corner of your windows task bar. Make sure that there is no RED circle around the shield, otherwise the real-time protection is not enabled. You should set automatic updates and scans in your Norton Anti-virus:    

What is Live Update?

LiveUpdate is a function in the Norton AntiVirus system to download and install the latest virus definitions. Using these virus definitions, the Norton AntiVirus system can scan the files in your PC to detect the presence of computer viruses or worms, and if found, will clean them up.

To Start the Norton AntiVirus system, double-click the yellow shield icon in the lower right corner of your windows screen, and you will see the main screen as shown below.

The Norton AntiVirus Main Screen

Note in the right side of the screen a checkbox for "Load Norton AntiVirus Services". This checkbox must be ticked.
Note the "LiveUpdate" button in the right screen.  Click this button to start the downloading of new virus definitions. The following screen will appear. Select "Internet" and click the "Next" button.

The LiveUpdate process will start.  The system will go through 4 steps:

1. Connecting to the source of virus definitions in the symantec website
2. Getting the latest virus definitions
3. Downloading the data files
4. And installing these files on your computer.

Click the 'Finish' button when the updating process is finished. Now, you  have successfully downloaded the latest virus definitions and are ready to go ahead with the actual scanning to detect any virus in your computer.

Scanning the Computer for Viruses

To scan for viruses, go to the Norton AntiVirus main screen.  Click the "Scan Computer" icon in the left window and you will see all drives and directories of your PC displayed in the right window.  To select a particular drive or directory for scanning, click the little empty square in front of the drive name or directory name.  Click the "+" sign to drop down the folders or files.

When you click the little empty square, you will see .  The "tick" marks means only the root directory is selected.  If there is a "+" sign over it, it means all sub-directories and files under it are selected.  After you have selected the drives or directories or files to scan, click the "Scan" button to start the actual scanning for virus.

Scanning results will be displayed in the "Scan Computer" screen as shown below.   If a virus is found, the Norton AntiVirus system will take the action you have specified in the setting of your system.

What if a Computer Virus is Found?

If a computer virus is found, the Norton system will either

• clean the virus from file,
• quarantine the infected file,
• delete the infected file,
• leave the virus alone.

Scheduled Updates

You should schedule the time and day so that the Norton AntiVirus will update the latest virus definitions automatically when your computer is free (e.g. at your lunch time or break time).

In the Norton AntiVirus main screen, click "File" and then "Schedule Updates" in the left window.  The right window will display the schedule.  In the schedule screen, select "enable scheduled automatic updates", select frequency of scan (daily recommended), and the day of the week and time of the day to do the automatic updating. (Note: you should schedule the update time before the scan time).

Note: you must leave your PC turned on if you expect Norton AntiVirus to perform the scheduled updating.

What should I do if I receive an email attachment and suspect virus?

You should always scan for virus after you have downloaded an email attachment and before you use the file.

1. Run Live Update in your Norton AntiVirus system to get the latest virus definitions.
2. Download the email attachment into a separate directory (e.g. name it scan_virus)
3. Scan the email attachment for virus
4. When proven clean, then proceed to open the file.

Scheduled Scans

You can schedule the time and day so that the Norton AntiVirus will perform the scanning automatically when your computer is free (e.g. at your lunch time or break time).

In the Norton AntiVirus main screen, look for the "Scheduled Scans" icon in the left window. When you click that icon, the right window will display the schedule.  In the schedule screen, select "enable scan", select frequency of scan (daily recommended), and the day of the week and time of the day to do the automatic scanning. (Note: you should schedule the update time before the scan time).

Note: you must leave your PC turned on if you expect Norton AntiVirus to perform the scheduled scanning.