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McAfee Update Kills More Than Viruses


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http://::news.yahoo.com/s/nf/20060313/tc_n...HNlYwN5bmNhdA--

A recent virus-definition update from security firm McAfee incorrectly flagged several applications as viruses, even removing the core Microsoft Excel executable from some users' computers.

Soon after issuing the regular update, McAfee began getting reports of an unusually high rate of infection among users, with about 100 of the company's enterprise customers noting problems.

Files that became quarantined or deleted included core Microsoft Office executables like excel.exe and graph.exe. A file related to Adobe Update Manager also was moved to a different folder for quarantine, and renamed.

While the problem might sound severe, it had limited impact because the error occurred only when a user initiated a manual scan. Those who had set the antivirus updates to run during idle time or in the background were not affected.

McAfee has fixed the error and has pushed out a new update to restore earlier virus definitions on the affected computers.

Problem Child

The issue arose from an incorrect identification of the W95/CTX virus, said Joe Telafici, director of operations at McAfee's Avert Labs.

Since the incident, the Avert staff has been working with customers to help them assess the degree to which they were affected and to restore the incorrectly deleted files where possible.

McAfee also has set up a Web site where customers of the company's Managed VirusScan and VirusScan Online can look at quarantined files to restore them if necessary.

This type of problem is not unusual in the antivirus industry, and has happened to McAfee in the past. Antivirus vendors typically release updated virus-definition files to correct these "false positives."

Work Zone

The issue with McAfee's virus update has brought up other challenges that the company is trying to address, Telafici said. "For VirusScan Enterprise customers, the ability to remotely restore files doesn't exist in the product," he noted.

Avert has released a tool for most VirusScan Enterprise customers that restores quarantined files, however. Users in China, Japan, and Korea do not have this ability yet, but Avert hopes to extend the same capability to them.

Also, the McAfee division is planning to enhance the options available to customers who have second thoughts about automating the process of deleting quarantined files.

"Avert is looking into whether they can create an undelete tool for those customers who had their secondary action set to delete," Telafici added.

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  • 2 weeks later...
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Norton had an update recently which used to disable internet connection if it was an AOL connection..

They fixed that though..

Just need to know if Kaspersky has any in the recent past..

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Guest tronchamonas

why dont you try NOD-32?... absolutely great!!!

If they could redesign its GUI it will be even greater!!!

:)

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why dont you try NOD-32?... absolutely great!!!

If they could redesign its GUI it will be even greater!!!

:sneaky:

Done that dear... have used all kinds AV progs

NOD32 is very good but after it missed a couple of worms..

I tried Kaspersky.. and have stuck with it...

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