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Microsoft Security Products Flag Google Chrome As a Virus
New submitter maeltor writes "Reports poured in this morning that Microsoft's security products, namely Microsoft Security Essentials and Forefront Client Security, were flagging Google Chrome as a virus (PWS:Win32/Zbot) and removing the browser if users chose to clean and reboot their machines. Users reported that the only way to mitigate the problem was to set MSE and Forefront to 'always allow' Zbot, which is generally considered to be a bad idea."
A Google employee in the above support thread notes that Microsoft has now pushed another update to resolve the issue. "On September 30th, 2011, an incorrect detection for PWS:Win32/Zbot was identified. On September 30th, 2011, Microsoft released an update that addresses the issue. Signature versions 1.113.672.0 and higher include this update."
Microsoft Security Products Flag Google Chrome As a Virus
For once, Microsoft get's it right!
If you want news from today, you have to come back tomorrow.
"Oh, Woops! How did that happen?! So sorry about that Google. Totally a mistake. Totally. Our bad, really."
Meanwhile some clueless user just switched back to IE.
This has never happened in all of computing history.
It looks like they responded within 2 hours - not bad!
Google support ticket with issue and resolution at the top: http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/Chrome/thread?tid=42d6ba02d7eed070&hl=en
I wonder what Chrome did that smelled like Win32/Zbot.
Chrome is a virus. You see, it has caused the marketing people at Mozilla to go crazy with the numbering scheme of FF and as a result, borked up my once good to use user interface into a complete mess of new design, misplaced buttons, screwy single menus and a whole host of unusable extensions. Chrome is a virus... that has killed Firefox.
It is as good as most of the competitors products, plus its free and doesn't bog down the system or constantly nag you with useless information.
It is probably the best free antivirus.
Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
...known as Adobe Flash.
make imaginary.friends COUNT=100 VISIBLE=false
Right. Let's face it, Microsoft would have done this on purpose if they had thought of it and thought they could get away with it, but chances are, this was an honest mistake. Test by: the regular (but hopefully infrequent) false positives you get from any antivirus product. Also test by: the speed at which M$ corrected it. Probably nothing to see here.
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
After all the times AV products have flagged Windows system files!
Slow down, cowboy! It has been 4 hours since you last posted. You must wait another few hours.
Actually, it works quite a bit better. And since it isn't an income source, it doesn't nag you constantly.
I'm betting you meant to suggest that the state of security software is pretty wretched these days rather than heap praise on MSSE. Am I right?
It's not as bad as McAfee's "Oh hey, that important system file, you're not using it right? *delete*"
One of my friends was at work for nearly 2 weeks straight after that fiasco.
What do I know, I'm just an idiot, right?
The real reason Microsoft is flagging Chrome as a virus. Since Chrome appears to be a legitimate threat to IE (unlike FF), if enough users believe that Chrome *IS* a virus, perhaps IE will reign undisputed King Of The Browsers.
The difference is: Microsoft has a reputation as a strongly anti-competitive company.
Never had a single false positive with it. Odds are your's aren't. Beat it trollboy.
Patches to IE9 break g-mail's formatting.
"That's the way to do it" - Punch
Actually, it works quite a bit better. And since it isn't an income source, it doesn't nag you constantly.
See that's what I love about Linux. I never see a nag screen. I also have a real package manager too, so I don't have an icon tray full of little annoying pop-ups telling me that such-and-such has an update and that i really need to separately update each individual program one at a time... If you like putting up with that go ahead. I prefer knowing I can i.e. edit a document without being distracted, advertised to, nagged, reminded of things that should be automated, etc.
Looks like we're under a smug alert.. I always find it interesting when Linux fanboys assume that because someone uses Windows, it means they only use Windows.
Looks like we're under a defensive dumbass alert... I always find it interesting when thoughtless persons assume that because someone uses multiple operating systems, it makes your comments about a particular one of those operating systems somehow less true. What I said about Windows applies to you when you are using Windows. This doesn't change just because you aren't always using Windows. Logic fail. You might as well say that because swans are birds, therefore all birds must be swans. But please keep accusing me of smugness because I don't like Windows, you seem so competent to assess this.
Looks like we're under a myopic moron alert. I always find it interesting when someone can't see any circumstance where someone would use a piece of software other than his preferred piece of software. What I said about the Security Essentials is true when I'm using Windows. What's also true when I'm using windows is that I'm a.) able to play games without spending 2 days looking for workarounds to get the game to run 5 minutes in Wine before it crashes, and b.) able to make money writing windows apps. That, combined with the fact that I don't have to put up with the nagging and such because I use SE, don't install malware, etc. makes for a fine case for using Windows when it suits my needs.
The righteous indignation is strong with this one. The way I figure it, upon confronting humor, you have three options: (a) laughing because you think it's funny; (b) not laughing because it's not funny to you; and, (42) taking it seriously, getting offended, lecturing the jokester and proving yourself humorless.
I applaud your choice, good sir! 42 is always the right answer.
Find me a virus scanner that has not once ever come up with a false positive. I bet you can't do it. Please think before jumping to dumb tin foil hattery.
What's a five-letter word that begins with an 'H' and ends with an 'R', has a 'U' in the middle
egrep -i '^H.U.R$' /usr/share/dict/*
surnames:Hauer
What do I win?
Disguise it as an FBI key logger
For justice, we must go to Don Corleone
to eliminate competition in the browser space.
Wasted a good portion of the morning hunting down a non-existent threat.
Instead of hanging out at Slashdot? Shame on you.
Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!