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Bad BitDefender Update Clobbers Windows PCs

Posted by Soulskill on from the it-actually-dispatches-a-man-with-a-bat dept.

alphadogg writes "Users of the BitDefender antivirus software started flooding the company's support forums Saturday, apparently after a faulty antivirus update caused 64-bit Windows machines to stop working. The company acknowledged the issue in a note explaining the problem. 'Due to a recent update it is possible that BitDefender detects several Windows and BitDefender files as infected with Trojan.FakeAlert.5,' the company said. The acknowledgment came after BitDefender users had logged hundreds of posts on the topic. Some complained of being unable to reboot their systems."

1 of 150 comments (clear)

  1. Re:How many times does this happen? by Nadaka · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Sure.
    It is called trusted computing.
    But who is the gatekeeper of trust?
    In order to only allow "KNOWN GOOD FILES" you need a white-list.
    That means that no mere user is going to be write his own software.
    That means that small software producers are going to have to go through an arduous and prohibitively expensive vetting process in order to be white-listed.
    In practice this means that only Microsoft and its partners will be able to produce software for your pc at a reasonable price.
    This could even mean that user generated data files are not trusted and therefor not allowed, making the pc a device for consuming content.
    Perhaps the user could produce content remotely through software as a service providers, who would either charge highly or claim ownership rights to your content.

    Sounds really nice to you?