DeKALB | McAfee anti-virus software designed to work with Clean Access may cause more problems than it solves.

While McAfee is offered free through the university, Clean Access, software designed to stop student computers from transmitting harmful programs, requires that only McAfee be installed on a user’s computer. This forces students to forfeit any money they have already spent on other anti-virus software.

However, Cisco, the company that created Clean Access, states on their Web site that Clean Access is compatible with Norton, PC-cillin and Zone Alarm among other anti-virus programs.

McAfee and NIU

While Symantec’s Norton Anti-Virus controlled 56 percent of the market in 2005, Elizabeth Leake, associate director of Information Technology Services, said, “McAfee was priced right and flexible for our purposes.”

Many students, however, purchase anti-virus software with their computer or shortly afterward. Retailers such as Best Buy and CompUSA even offer a $30 service that installs and fine tunes any anti-virus software to a particular computer.

Junior operations and information management major Rob Stresinshe is one such student. After investing about $40 in Norton Anti-Virus, he was forced to switch to McAfee if he wanted to use his computer.

“I know why they have it, for the school’s protection, but I’d rather use my own stuff,” Stresinshe said. He also said he had to help four other students who couldn’t get their computer to work with Clean Access’ guidelines.

Clean Access complications

Although Clean Access is capable of working with all brands of virus protection, Leake said this would only involve more time spent on development and support for every possible option.

Currently, students must log in to Clean Access every time they turn on their computer, which is followed with a one to two minute “updating” process.

For Randy Zvonek, a senior electrical engineering major, McAfee works fine.

“Some people complain, but I haven’t had too much trouble with it,” he said, noting that his computer only slows while Clean Access is uploading data.

Meanwhile, as computer specialists like Best Buy’s Geek Squad recommend less popular anti-virus solutions such as PC-cillin, McAfee is coming under fire from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

According to The Register, a technology monitoring Web site, McAfee was recently fined $50 million dollars and forced to establish an “ethics hotline” after the SEC found they had been inflating net revenue by $622 million from 1998 to 2000. In June, they again came under investigation, this time for backdating share options, essentially selling stock at a price below its current trade value.

For now, the university has no plans to change its policy.

“By choosing one solution and providing it for free, we do a more efficient job of protecting systems and making things easier for our customers,” Leake said.

Some students disagree.

“It’s a little harder because you have to log in every time,” said Erica Dinwiddie, a senior sociology major. “It is frustrating when you’re trying to print a paper real quick.”