Internet-based attacks upon individual desktop and laptop computers are a world-wide problem. New vulnerabilities are continually discovered. This emphasizes the importance of keeping systems up-to-date by installing security patches as soon as they become available. Failure to keep all systems patched can place everyone on the network at risk.

The School uses a patch management system called BigFix Enterprise Suite (BES). It is administered by the School's computer support group. This patch management system allows us to install critical security patches on computers as soon as they're made available by the software supplier and tested here.

After installing the small Bigfix software package on your computer, it will communicate with the School's Bigfix server to determine its patch status. The server will automatically apply appropriate updates once they have been released. Release of patches occurs after testing and follows a rigorous, but rapid, procedure.

You must install the Bigfix client software on any Windows and Macintosh computers which you use on the School network. Certain basic inventory information about the computer - such as IP address, operating system, some hardware data, and the presence or absence of critical security updates - is collected.

Updates applied by Bigfix will be limited to the following actions

• critical OS updates from Microsoft or Apple
• updates to the following applications: Adobe Acrobat, Flash, Apple Quicktime, Sun (Oracle) Java, Firefox.
• reporting on presence or absence of antivirus software

If an update requires a system restart, a 24-hour warning will generally be given although we reserve the right to shorten that time in exceptional circumstances.

• Download and install the BigFix client software: Windows | Macintosh

We will compile a Bigfix FAQ, as we receive any questions relating to it.

If you encounter problems or need assistance, please submit a Help request.