Question:
Just wondering if you can give me some advice on primary school students using USB memory sticks. Any hints, tips etc as they will need to be scanned for viruses especially if they use them at home. What’s a good anti virus for this kind of thing?
Answer:
I think you’re correct in identifying that viruses are your biggest threat when using USB sticks so a decent Anti-Virus solution would be very important. I use AVG on my computers but there are lots of different solutions out there including AVAST. These are free. I guess if you go down the commercial route, I believe there are some special offers for schools, particularly DEIS schools. Contact the NCTE for information on their latest fact sheets on this. Most anti-virus checkers have built-in Spyware prevention but check this out too.
Another aspect to take care of is copyright. Some children may bring in things on their USB keys that may be copyrighted. The best advice on this is to add an extra line or two in your AUP if you have one. It can also form part of a Behaviour Policy if you like. Something along the lines of the school taking no responsibility for items brought in from home.
Last Update: August 8, 2017
I use AVG on all my computers and most malware and spyware gets picked up by it, however some things don’t so you would need to be careful. Also the antivirus you use must be kept up to date to be beneficial
Thanks for that tip