Tag: Security Essentials

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Microsoft Security Essentials flags Google Chrome as Malware

I spent the whole morning restoring Google Chrome on numbers of computers at the office after it was flagged as Password Stealer PWS:Win32/Zbot and forcibly removed by Microsoft Security Essentials. As I was working to get this problem straighten out, I discovered other people are having the same problem.

Interestingly, Microsoft Security Essentials did not flag Google Chrome Dev release as malware. It only affects the release version on the computers I have in the office.

I was unable to reinstall Google Chrome even after updating Microsoft Security Essentials. So I disabled Microsoft Security Essentials before started re-installing Google Chrome.

If you were still having problems re-installing Google Chrome with Microsoft Security Essentials disabled, try uninstalling Google Chrome from the Control Panel.

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Microsoft Security Essentials Fails! Marks Firefox Uninstaller as Trojan.

Apparently Microsoft still doesn’t like Mozilla Firefox. Microsoft Security Essentials marks Mozila Firefox uninstaller as Trojan.

ms_se_fails_firefox

Description: This program is dangerous and executes commands from an attacker.

Recommendation: Remove this software immediately.

Microsoft Security Essentials detected programs that may compromise your privacy or damage your computer. You can still access the files that these programs use without removing them (not recommended). To access these files, select the ‘Allow’ action and click ‘Apply actions’. If this option is not available, log on as administrator or ask the local administrator for help.

Category: Trojan

Get more information about this item online.
http://www.microsoft.com/security/portal/Threat/Encyclopedia/Entry.aspx?name=Trojan%3aWin32%2fComame&threatid=2147624660

What is really going on there?

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Microsoft Security Essentials

I have been using Microsoft Security Essentials Beta on day one. I did have some reservations on this product instead of blindly believing whatever Microsoft P.R. (a.k.a. Paul Thurrott) was saying in Windows Weekly Podcast.

My first impressions on Microsoft Security Essentials were:

  • Small memory footprint.
  • Doing good job at detecting malware on a known infected hard-drive.
  • Excessive use of “At Risk” phrase.

Overall I am impressed with the performance and I have installed it on numbers of computers that I managed. Two things that I stumbled upon are:

  • VNC is flagged as security threat.
  • Explorer.exe uses a lot more memory during the scan. It is unclear if Security Essentials offloads part of the scanning task to Explorer.exe.

In addition to that I have also installed Microsoft Security Essentials for some friends who were having virus troubles repeatedly in the past. This would put Microsoft Security Essentials to the test. Then again, the users often are the weakest links in computer security.

Get Microsoft Security Essentials.