As part of Pitt Information Technology’s ongoing efforts to enhance cybersecurity, we will fully transition to Microsoft Defender for Endpoint (formerly Defender ATP) as the University's primary solution for endpoint protection, detection, and response. Because Microsoft Defender is built into Windows 10 and 11, offering robust security features that better align with our needs, the University’s licensing agreement for Malwarebytes will not be renewed when it expires on Saturday, April 27.

Unlike Malwarebytes ThreatDown, Defender for Endpoint offers full event timelines, isolation of infected machines, and advanced learning and detection that improves over time. Adopting Defender for Endpoint now lets you make full use of the University’s supported endpoint detection and response.

University-Owned Devices

If devices in your department or area are currently running Malwarebytes ThreatDown and are already onboarded to Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, you’re all set! No further action is needed. However, if you haven’t transitioned your systems out of Nebula console yet, we kindly request that you do so before April 27. This ensures that all systems are appropriately protected under our updated security framework.

Administrators should:

1. Remove Malwarebytes ThreatDown from university systems you manage for your department or area.
2. Contact the Technology Help Desk to set up Defender for Endpoint on new departmental device(s).

Personal Devices

After the University’s license expires on April 27, Malwarebytes Premium will transition to a free version that will provide virus definitions and security updates but will no longer provide antivirus protection in real time.

Pitt Information Technology recommends students, faculty, and staff who are Windows users turn on the standard version of Microsoft Defender.  Because Microsoft Defender is fully integrated with Windows and optimized for Office 365 desktop/cloud apps, it is more efficient and uses fewer computing resources. Windows 10 with built-in Microsoft Defender antivirus is available through Microsoft Azure Dev Tools for Teaching.

You can easily enable Microsoft Defender on Windows PCs for your users by following these simple steps:

1. Click on the Windows Security icon in the notification area on the lower-right side of the taskbar.
2. Go to Virus & threat protection.
3. Under Virus & threat protection settings, click on Manage settings.
4. Toggle the Real-time protection switch to On.
5. If you currently have Malwarebytes installed on your device, please uninstall it to avoid any conflicts or redundancies with Microsoft Defender.

Mac users can select a different antivirus solution available at no cost. For more information, visit here. Users may need to reboot a device after installing a different antivirus solution.

Please contact the Technology Help Desk at +1-412-624-HELP (4357) if you experience any issues or have any questions regarding this announcement.