The University's recommended antivirus software for unmanaged computers is now Sophos. Symantec support was discontinued in May 2022.
The University of Pennsylvania offers threat protection and antivirus software solutions for faculty, staff, and students. For computers managed by Wharton Computing (typically faculty, staff, and the public computers in labs, classrooms, and hallways), the Crowdstrike software must be installed and running. For unmanaged computers (typically students computers, and those not managed by Wharton Computing), the University provides Sophos Home free of charge.
For more information such as recommendations and helpful tips, please see our full Virus Protection article.
Before You Start
Managed v. Unmanaged: Wharton Computing manages many computers on campus -- these are called "managed computers". Wharton Computing also supports people who are using computers that aren't managed by Wharton Computing -- these are called "unmanaged computers".
- Managed computers: purchased by Wharton/Penn; built, configured , and maintained by Wharton Computing staff.
- Unmanaged computers: purchased by individuals or by Wharton/Penn using personal funds.
Are You Already Protected?
The first step is to determine whether you are already protected. Recommendations at Wharton differ depending on whether you are faculty, staff, student and whether Wharton Computing is managing your computer.
Unmanaged Computers (Students, Faculty & Staff with Unmanaged or Personal Computers)
Student computers and some personal computers owned by faculty and staff are "unmanaged" -- they are not part of the Wharton Computing-managed computing environment. These computers should have antivirus protection installed -- we recommend Sophos Home (for Macs) or Windows Defender (for Windows 10).
Managed Computers (Staff, Faculty)
Wharton Computing uses the Crowdstrike software to protect staff and faculty machines that are managed by Wharton Computing. (Student computers are not managed by Wharton Computing.)
Choosing Your Antivirus Software
There are several conditions that will determine which steps you take to install the appropriate antivirus software: who you are, and what kind of computers you are using.
| Student | Faculty | Staff | |
| Unmanaged Mac | Sophos Home | Sophos Home | Sophos Home |
| Managed Mac | N/A | Crowdstrike | Crowdstrike |
| Unmanaged Windows | Windows Defender | Sophos Home | Sophos Home |
| Managed Windows | N/A | Crowdstrike | Crowdstrike |
Antivirus Download Links
For unmanaged computers, Wharton Computing recommends using Sophos Home software on MacOS devices. Windows 8 & 10 devices are already protected by the built-in antivirus software, Windows Defender.
Note: If you're still running Windows 7, Wharton Computing recommends updating to Windows 10 for optimal performance, as well as security since Windows 7 support from Microsoft ended in January, 2020.
MacOS | Windows 10 | Windows 10 (if Defender is not an option) |
 |  | |
Sophos Home FAQs
Here are a few questions we hear from users about Sophos Home:
Questions?
Students - email support@wharton.upenn.edu.
Faculty - contact your Academic Distributed Representative (login required).
Staff - email admin-support@wharton.upenn.edu.