Desktop Computer Security: Stanford's BigFix Patch Management Service
by Jay Stamps
The last issue of this newsletter September 27, 2004 introduced two new tools that ITSS has provided to the Stanford community to improve desktop computer security. These tools will help to ensure that desktop and laptop computers are more securely maintained, and to lighten the responsibility of computer maintenance for ordinary users.
- A standalone utility for Windows 2000 and XP called Stanford Security Self-Help, which allows you very easily to apply (and "undo," if necessary) baseline security settings, is now available on the Essential Stanford Software (ESS) web site.
- A Windows operating system patch management service called BigFix is also available for download from ESS.
Both tools are now in wide use, and nearly 8000 Windows PCs are currently participating in the BigFix patch management service. This is a very encouraging start; but it still represents fewer than half of the PCs regularly attached to the campus network.
How BigFix Works, and How You Can Begin Using It
The BigFix service involves the installation of a small software application on your PC (the "client") that communicates with a centrally managed server. The server administrators, in close cooperation with local technical support staff, test all new security patches released by Microsoft, and then distribute them to PCs that have the BigFix software installed on them.
There is a great deal of information about this service on the Stanford web. Please see the BigFix home page:
If you have questions about the service, be sure to look at the BigFix FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions). A link is provided on the home page.
You may already be using Windows Automatic Updates, or regularly visiting the Windows Update web site, to keep your PC patched. Please install BigFix anyway, as a supplement, if you wish, to your existing practices. It's far more reliable than Automatic Updates, and provides significant extra assurance that your PC is always up-to-date.
Technical support staff in schools and departments who have begun deploying BigFix find that it makes their jobs much easier by enabling the preventive maintenance of computers with a speed and consistency that was impossible to achieve in the past.
BigFix project team members have visited all Stanford schools, as well as many other University organizations, to introduce the service and its benefits. If the team has not already contacted you, and you might be interested in using BigFix in your own area, please send email to bigfix-questions@lists.stanford.edu.
The project's goal is to involve as many as possible of the PCs attached to the campus network in the BigFix service. To accomplish such a worthy, if challenging, goal, the project needs your help. Please educate yourself by visiting the BigFix at Stanford home page and install the BigFix software on your own PCs or on those PCs you support.
Help to get the word out that keeping Windows PCs patched is important. And by doing so, help to protect our open, academic network from viruses and hackers. Use BigFix.
