Students can now take virus protection software home free of charge, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University said on Tuesday.
To protect the campus computer network, the university is providing students with McAfee Virus to use in their homes.
University information technology services director Richard Li said most worm and virus infections at the polytechnic come from electronic documents created by students.
'In the interests of both the Polytechnic University and its students, the best possible virus security must be used throughout the campus,' said Timothy Lau, Network Associates director for North Asia.
The initiative aims to stop transfer of viruses from students' homes to the university.
Mr Liu said this was also a good opportunity to encourage students to use legal - not pirated software.