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Antivirus at PSU: CrowdStrike Falcon

CrowdStrike Falcon is PSU’s next-generation antivirus/anti-malware solution for endpoint and server threat detection and response, automatically deployed to all OIT managed faculty and staff computers. CrowdStrike Falcon is a lightweight agent running in the background to detect and quarantine malicious activity without user interaction. Unlike our previous solution Trellix (formerly McAfee), you will not see a system tray icon to indicate that it is installed. The steps below will help you determine if it is installed on your system and how to access it.

For information on antivirus/anti-malware solutions for personal systems, refer to our larger discussion of Antivirus Software.

How to Determine if CrowdStrike Falcon is Installed

macOS

On macOS systems, you will see the Falcon.app icon in the Applications folder (reference the image below). The app will not launch, but its presence indicates it is installed. The application can also be found through the search function and should read as “Falcon.app” with a screen reader.

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NOTE: If you are prompted to “Allow” or “Deny” the installation of Falcon on your macOS system, please choose the “Allow” option

Windows

CrowdStrike Falcon on Windows has no user-facing applications or shortcuts. To determine if it is installed and running properly, open "Virus & threat protection" in Windows Security.

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Pop-up Notifications

You may receive a pop-up notification if CrowdStrike detects an issue or a file scan is initiated. Periodic file scans are routine and can be safely ignored.

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To report an issue: Log in to the PSU Help Center

How to Initiate an On-Demand Scan

Windows

  1. Right-click on the desired file or folder in File Explorer

  2. If you are on Windows 11, select Show more options

  3. Select the CrowdStrike Falcon malware scan menu option

  4. Select Scan

macOS

On-demand scanning is not yet available on macOS but is coming soon.