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Microsoft's Antivirus Briefly Flags Google.com As Malicious

tsu doh nimh writes "Computers running Microsoft's antivirus and security software may be flagging google.com — the world's most-visited Web site — as malicious, apparently due to a faulty Valentine's Day security update shipped by Microsoft. For several hours on Tuesday, PC users browsing with Internet Explorer on a machine equipped with Microsoft Security Essentials or Forefront saw warnings that Google.com was serving up a 'severe' threat – Exploit:JS/Blacole.BW — basically that google.com was supposedly infected with a Blackhole exploit kit. The warning prompted users to 'delete' the threat, although accepting the default action appeared to cause no ill result. The episode is more embarrassing than harmful, given that Microsoft is expected to ship antivirus technology with the next version of Windows."

13 of 123 comments (clear)

  1. And here I thought Windows was the real virus... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    Isn't the real virus actually windows?

  2. Aww! by Cyphase · · Score: 5, Funny

    Dear Google,

              Happy Valentine's Day!

                        Your valentine,
                                  Microsoft

    --
    by Cyphase ( 907627 )
  3. Well, Google did that already to MS.. by Giloo · · Score: 5, Funny

    Google already flagged MS France as malicious 2 years ago: http://gilouweb.com/bordel/google_truth.png (Ce site risque d'endommager votre ordinateur meaning: this website might harm your computer) So I guess it's only revenge ;)

    1. Re:Well, Google did that already to MS.. by Bogtha · · Score: 5, Funny

      this website might harm your computer

      To be fair, it does host Microsoft software ;)

      --
      Bogtha Bogtha Bogtha
  4. To be fair by Reed+Solomon · · Score: 5, Funny

    in Microsoft's eyes, they are the most malicious threat in existence right now.

  5. Re:And here I thought Windows was the real virus.. by mr_gorkajuice · · Score: 5, Informative

    It might have been kinda funny some 5+ years ago when someone first told it. Maybe if I came across it less than once per week, I'd eventually find it kind of amusing again.

  6. AV is not really mature yet by gweihir · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I like MS bashing just as much as the next slashdot-poster, but I think here the blame is minimal. AV software based on signatures has a very high probability of doing things like that and testing all common possibilities is very hard or impossible, while at the same time new signatures need to be pushed fast in order for them to be effective.

    That also shows that AV software is, at best, a temporary measure. IMO the future is better OS security (and here MS is to blame), better application security (which is a budgetary and an education/knowledge problem).

    --
    Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
  7. Oh my god by SmallFurryCreature · · Score: 4, Funny

    I just had an image of Steve Ballmer and Bill Gates going down on Larry Page and Sergey Brin (which by the way, google had to guess at being the right answer for being the founder of google) in a nerd love fest...

    My eyes! What has been seen cannot be unseen.

    ...

    ...

    ...

    Oh who am I kidding. Fap fap fap fap fap

    --

    MMO Quests are like orgasms:

    You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.

  8. There is nothing incompetence cannot achieve! by coder111 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Let's just wait until they block microsoft.com due to some related screwup.

    Exploit:JS/Idiots.ASS detected

  9. Delete the threat by inpher · · Score: 5, Funny

    So, did anyone manage to delete the threat? Google.com is still running.

    Meh, I guess nobody really reads the warning dialogues anymore.

  10. Re:first! by WrongSizeGlass · · Score: 4, Funny

    And stranger than that, you are not bonch and your post isn't a criticism of Google claiming that they deserve it and Microsoft is right to label them as malicious. What are the odds!

    Perhaps Microsoft was right about the Google homepage on the 14th:
    - MS Security Essentials is written by programmers/nerds.
    - On the 14th, Google had an animated "Valentine's Day" logo.
    - The animated logo was an animated female. Innocent and harmless, but female none the less.
    - As usual, nerds (or in this case MS Security Essentials, the product of nerds) had no idea how to react to a female.
    - When MS Security Essentials determined that the animated female was holding a valentine it panicked.
    - MS Security Essentials protected Windows from Google's trojan horse valentine (metaphorically, of course).

  11. Re:And here I thought Windows was the real virus.. by oakgrove · · Score: 4, Funny

    I think poking fun at Microsoft Google Apple and the whole lot is for the most part almost always funny. Ever considered removing the giant stick from your ass?

    --
    The soylentnews experiment has been a dismal failure.
  12. Re:And here I thought Windows was the real virus.. by poetmatt · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It's no different than when they "accidentally" (note the word) flagged chrome as a virus before.

    Expect these accidents to become more frequent as microsoft panics about google competition.

    Apparently this has to happen more than 50 times before people accept that it's not just some magic "mistake".

    see http://chrome.blogspot.com/2011/09/problems-with-microsoft-security.html