Cyber Risks · Krebs on Security

Bad Bit Defender Antivirus Update Hobbles Windows PCs

Summary: A faulty BitDefender update released on a Saturday morning for 64-bit Windows systems caused the antivirus software to quarantine thousands of legitimate Windows and BitDefender files, flagging them as a threat called "FakeAlert.5". BitDefender said it removed the update and was building a patch to restore the quarantined files, while warning that malware writers were already exploiting the situation and urging users to download the fix only from its own site.

Why it matters: The security tool itself made systems unbootable and, by BitDefender's own account, handed malware writers an opening - and users on the company's forum reported quarantined files permanently deleted even after applying the patch.

Read the original at Krebs on Security ↗

Topics
Data Breaches
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