Symantec Endpoint Protection clients are displaying "Antivirus and Antispyware Protection definitions are out of date."

Products

• Endpoint Protection

Issue/Introduction

The status message in the Symantec Endpoint Protection (SEO) client interface displays "Antivirus and Antispyware Protection definitions are out of date" even though the Antivirus and Antispyware policy setting to "Display a warning when definitions are outdated" is not selected.

Cause

The default setting for status message in the Symantec Endpoint Protection client is 30 days. If the Notification option to "Display a warning when definitions are outdated" is checked, the setting is changed to the setting in the Warn after field, which defaults to 14 days.

Resolution

This issue is fixed in Symantec Endpoint Protection Release Update 6 Maintenance Patch 1 (RU6 MP1).  Please upgrade to the latest available release of SEP in order to take advantage of this and other enhancements and improvements.

Should it not be possible to upgrade immediately, there is a known workaround for this issue.  The AntiVirus and Antispyware policy setting needs be changed to the desired number of days before warning.

How to change the AntiVirus and Antispyware definitions out of date setting

1. Open the Symantec Endpoint Protection Manager (SEPM) console
2. Click Policies
3. Open Antivirus and Antispyware
4. Click on the Antivirus and Antispyware policy in use
5. Select Miscellaneous
6. Click on the Notifications tab
7. Select the box "Display a warning when definitions are outdated."
8. Change the option Warn after: to the desired number of days definitions to be out of date without warning.
9. Select OK

Policies that are not inherited will need to be changed at the individual group level rather than in the Policies location.