Spring Cleaning

The Device Management (DM) service is a proactive approach to ensure our University computer systems and network are safe, secure, and available for teaching, learning, research, and projects.  It has been doing a great job of maintaining our University-owned computers by keeping commonly-used programs up-to-date, like Java, Flash, and Adobe Acrobat.  As an extension of this valuable service, we will soon launch a "spring cleaning" initiative in late-March.

What is Spring Cleaning?

Just as a "deep clean" helps our homes and offices run more efficiently, so too does a thorough "cleaning" of our computers. As time passes, computers tend to accrue applications that are unnecessary, annoying, and perhaps even harmful. These types of programs are referred to as "grayware," "bloatware," or PUPs ("Possibly Unwanted Programs"). Though they are more innocuous than viruses, they make our computers work harder and run slower.

How will DM Carry Out the Cleaning?

In order to clean out this digital junk, the Device Management system will soon start automatically removing certain programs which have been identified as "unwanted" from university-owned computers. Information Technology has partnered with support representatives of the schools to identify the programs most detrimental to system performance, system security, and user experience.

These protocols will be started on March 21, 2016 and will only affect University-owned computers. If you would like the exact details of the programs being removed and their justifications, please visit the Device Management Blog's Spring Cleaning Page. For more information on the Device Management system please visit the Device Management homepage.

Frequently Asked Questions

How is the list of software determined for periodic removal on University-owned equipment?

Pepperdine Information Technology has partnered with support colleagues from our schools and select departments to identify known software that is unwanted and potentially harmful to our University-owned systems.  A candidate list is shared internally with Device Management, Information Technology, and our valued support partners for review and feedback.  The top contenders and known offenders are identified.  The list of proposed applications for removal are published on this blog for community awareness and feedback.  Based on feedback, the final list is decided and automated removal scheduled thereafter.

How can I suggest software for periodic removal from University-owned equipment?

Pepperdine University faculty and staff may submit suggestions using this form.

What if I feel that an application on the removal list is critical to my work at the University?  Can I request a review?

Absolutely.  We rely on feedback from the community to understand the needs and business practices of our work colleagues.  You may submit your feedback.  Members of the Device Management team will routinely review feedback, with final decisions made within 2-4 weeks.

Is this service available for my personally-owned equipment?

No.  The Device Management service is focused on safeguarding and optimizing University-owned computers.  You can check the page "Periodically Removed Programs," which is linked in the right-hand section of this blog, for software on the removal list and then uninstall these applications if they happen to be on your personal computer.

Programs Added to Automatically Patch

With the overwhelming success of patching programs like Adobe Flash Player and Oracle Java, the Device Management team has expanded the programs which will be automatically and silently patched. We've added Microsoft Silverlight, VLC Media Player, and Apple Quicktime to our patch schedules. Silverlight is a common browser plugin for web applications and video. VLC and Quicktime are both versatile video players.

Adobe Flash Updated in a Flash!

On July 14, 2015, Adobe released a security update for Flash, version 18.0.0.209.  This was in response to Mozilla's blacklisting earlier versions of Flash due to security concerns.

Thanks to the nimble work of Device Management, 94% of university-owned Macs and 96% of university-owned Windows computers now have the latest version!

Email Campaign to Enroll University Macs

The device management team has sent out an email to registered users of Mac computers. The email is part of a campaign to enroll University owned Macs in device management. If you have questions, please contact devicemanagement@pepperdine.edu.

Endpoint Protection on University-owned Macs

A small number of people who use Macintosh computers owned by Pepperdine University have independently installed Sophos anti-virus protection.  This was a great and proactive step, but is no longer necessary.

Consequently, starting today, Device Management will replace any independently installed versions of Sophos on university-owned Macintosh computers with our enterprise version, known as Endpoint Protection.

Adobe Acrobat Pro XI for Mac updates to 11.0.10

In a previous post we detailed how all faculty and staff computers are receiving Adobe Acrobat Pro XI automatically. Since then, Adobe has continued to update the program. Windows computers are applying these updates silently but the Mac version requires some user interaction. However, Device Management has greatly simplified these necessary steps. Starting today, any Mac which has a non-current version of Acrobat Pro XI will be prompted to update with the following notification:

Mac alert window for Adobe Acrobat Pro update

Mac users may notice that this alert box looks different than it has in the past. This design change creates a uniform Device Management experience between Mac and Windows computers. If you see this alert please close any instance of Adobe PDF programs then click "Ok." When the process is complete another Device Management notification will pop-up:

Mac alert indicating successful upgrade

Flash Auto-update Turned On

Many people configure programs to update automatically.  This is a good practice and in some cases will keep your computer up to date even before Device Management can patch it!

Consequently, in order to make your life easier and to provide better security, Device Management is turning on the auto-update feature of Adobe Flash on February 25, 2015 for all those who have this program on their computers owned by Pepperdine University.

Note: If you currently have Adobe Flash Extended Support Release (ESR) 13, then it will be upgraded to version 16 and version 13 will be removed.