University community urged to remove Kaspersky Antivirus

To uphold federal software mandates and university licensing contracts, members of the NC State community who still have Kaspersky Antivirus software installed on either their personal or university-owned computers should remove it.

Last year, OIT discontinued its three-year campus site license, based on campus feedback and the recommendation of the Antivirus Service Team. And as of July 2018, you are not allowed to use any software developed or provided by Kaspersky Labs on computers that are used as part of federal contracts. See the Federal Acquisition Regulation.  

Removing Kaspersky ensures faculty and staff are in compliance with up-to-date security practices as the university moves towards completely phasing out Kaspersky Antivirus.

University-owned computers

  • OIT currently recommends the use of MS Endpoint Protection for Windows and macOS devices.
  • IT support staff should review Recommended Antivirus Solutions for details on handling domain joined and non-domain joined computers.
  • End users should check with their unit’s IT support staff to remove Kaspersky.

Personally owned computers

  • The university no longer provides antivirus software licenses for personally-owned computers. Instead, the university recommends using either the antivirus protection provided by the operating system vendor or an approved alternative. For details, see Approved Alternate Antivirus Products.
  • Campus users who downloaded and installed the personal edition of Kaspersky Internet Security through the university’s software licensing site should uninstall and replace Kaspersky with an approved product.

More information is available at NC State Antivirus Resources. Questions should be directed to the NC State Help Desk at help@ncsu.edu or 919.515.4357 (HELP).