MarketNeutral
23rd April 2010, 10:34 AM
COMPUTERS in companies, hospitals and schools around the world got stuck repeatedly rebooting themselves today after an antivirus program identified a normal Windows file as a virus.
Antivirus vendor McAfee Inc confirmed that a software update posted today caused its antivirus program for corporate customers to misidentify a harmless file. It has posted a replacement update for download.
"We are not aware of significant impact on consumers and believe we have effectively limited such occurrence," the company said.
Online posters begged to differ, saying thousands of computers running Windows XP with Service Pack 3 were affected.
At Rhode Island Hospital, the state's biggest, the computer lock-up prompted personnel to divert emergency room visitors without traumas to other hospitals. The hospital also postponed some elective surgeries.
Patient care continued uninterrupted using backup procedures, according to Nancy Jean, spokeswoman for the health system.
Twitter is blowing up with postings about PC users having problems with their Windows XP operating systems to an update from McAfee Security. The security system blocks users from unwanted viruses while using the web but it seems to have turned on its customers, and is causing unwanted technical problems.
Trusted industry source Engadget.com delivered a quick report on the technical specifics of the McAfee mess up in response to millions of PC users being unable to work Windows XP. Part of the issue is that the malfunctioning XP programs lead some users to believe that it could be an issue with the XP operating system itself.
“Apparently DAT update 5958 deletes the svchost.exe file, which then triggers a false-positive in McAfee itself and sets off a chain of uncontrolled restarts and loss of networking functionality,†read Engadget’s website.
On top of the Twitter.com mayhem, the McAfee customer support page was not responding well to the millions of hits from users who are trying to find a solution to their problem. The site shut down, but then McAfee released a temporary solution to the problem that can be viewed at www.mcafee.com.
"McAfee is aware that a number of customers have incurred a false-positive error due to incorrect malware alerts on Wednesday, April 21. The problem occurs with the 5958 virus definition file (DAT) that was released on April 21,†said internet technical specialists with Cnet.com.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/news/anti-virus-program-goes-beserk/story-e6frg90f-1225856668738
Antivirus vendor McAfee Inc confirmed that a software update posted today caused its antivirus program for corporate customers to misidentify a harmless file. It has posted a replacement update for download.
"We are not aware of significant impact on consumers and believe we have effectively limited such occurrence," the company said.
Online posters begged to differ, saying thousands of computers running Windows XP with Service Pack 3 were affected.
At Rhode Island Hospital, the state's biggest, the computer lock-up prompted personnel to divert emergency room visitors without traumas to other hospitals. The hospital also postponed some elective surgeries.
Patient care continued uninterrupted using backup procedures, according to Nancy Jean, spokeswoman for the health system.
Twitter is blowing up with postings about PC users having problems with their Windows XP operating systems to an update from McAfee Security. The security system blocks users from unwanted viruses while using the web but it seems to have turned on its customers, and is causing unwanted technical problems.
Trusted industry source Engadget.com delivered a quick report on the technical specifics of the McAfee mess up in response to millions of PC users being unable to work Windows XP. Part of the issue is that the malfunctioning XP programs lead some users to believe that it could be an issue with the XP operating system itself.
“Apparently DAT update 5958 deletes the svchost.exe file, which then triggers a false-positive in McAfee itself and sets off a chain of uncontrolled restarts and loss of networking functionality,†read Engadget’s website.
On top of the Twitter.com mayhem, the McAfee customer support page was not responding well to the millions of hits from users who are trying to find a solution to their problem. The site shut down, but then McAfee released a temporary solution to the problem that can be viewed at www.mcafee.com.
"McAfee is aware that a number of customers have incurred a false-positive error due to incorrect malware alerts on Wednesday, April 21. The problem occurs with the 5958 virus definition file (DAT) that was released on April 21,†said internet technical specialists with Cnet.com.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/news/anti-virus-program-goes-beserk/story-e6frg90f-1225856668738