Uh, whoops?
Microsoft this morning scrambled to launch a fix after reports surfaced that its Security Necessities software program was mistakenly figuring out the Google Chrome browser as password-stealing malware — and eradicating the competing net browser from Home windows machines.
Ed Bott of ZDNet has the rundown, together with particulars on the up to date definitions that Microsoft says will handle the issue.
The false constructive precipitated a stir amongst Chrome customers, as mirrored in this thread on the Chrome forums, beginning with this submit …
I’ve been utilizing Chrome on my workplace PC for over a 12 months. This morning, after I began up the PC, a Home windows Security field popped up and stated I had a Security Drawback that wanted to be eliminated. I clicked the Particulars button and noticed that it was “PWS:Win32/Zbot”. I clicked the Take away button and restarted my PC. Now I do not need Chrome. It has been eliminated or uninstalled. The Chrome.exe file is gone. Was there actually an issue, or is that this only a manner for Microsoft to stay it to Google? If I reinstall Chome, will it have my bookmarks and different settings? Undecided what to do about this, however I a lot favor Chrome to Explorer.
That query about bookmarks and settings is a important one. Even after issuing the fix, Microsoft might have some very offended Chrome customers on its arms.
Replace, 11:57 a.m.: Right here’s Microsoft’s assertion …
On September thirtieth, 2011, an incorrect detection for PWS:Win32/Zbot was recognized and as a end result, Google Chrome was inadvertently blocked and in some instances faraway from clients PCs. We now have already fastened the difficulty — we launched an up to date signature (1.113.672.0) at 9:57 am PDT — however roughly 3,000 clients have been impacted. Affected clients ought to manually replace Microsoft Security Necessities (MSE) with the newest signatures. To do that, merely launch MSE, go to the replace tab and click on the Replace button, after which reinstall Google Chrome. We apologize for the inconvenience this will have precipitated our clients.