Skype users who have been getting strange error messages from Microsoft's security products over the past week can breathe easy now. It was all a mistake.
Microsoft said Wednesday that a buggy antivirus definition update, released Friday, had mislabeled Skype as pop-up adware program called Win32/Vundo.gen!D. The issue was fixed Monday in a signature update so users who have version 1.31.9121.0 of Microsoft's malware signature file should be fine.
Microsoft's security products were not removing Skype, simply blocking it from running, so users should not have to install any new software once they've updated their antivirus definitions. "Once the signatures are updated on the user's machine, Skype will operate normally," Microsoft's public relations agency said in a statement.
The buggy update affects Forefront Client Security, Windows Live OneCare and Windows Live OneCare Safety Scanner, but not Windows Defender or the Malicious Software Removal Tool that ships with Windows.
Microsoft's gaffe was an annoyance for users, but security products often mistakenly report legitimate software as malware, called a "false positive," by security experts. Two years ago, for example, Sophos identified legitimate Mac OS X files as malware.
Skype has blogged about the issue here.
The latest signature files can be downloaded here.
- Sponsored Resource:Are you ready for virtualization? Try the sever assessment tool.
- Sponsored Resource:Stay at home servers. Learn more about a home server for your family.
- Sponsored Resource:Get the communications, data, and security a business needs in one neat package. Learn more.
- Sponsored Resource:Learn more about ultra light notebooks from Asus and the best warranty in the industry.
- Sponsored Resource:Thinking about a new Laptop? Lenovo has models to meet everyone's needs.
- Sponsored Resource:Get the truth about remanufactured ink. Learn more from HP.
- Sponsored Resource:Six smart ways to grow small business IT
News For Your Business
- AT&T Objects to Sprint-Clearwire Deal
- FCC OKs Sirius Acquisition of XM
- Broadband Innovations, Part 4: The Doctor Isn't In but Can Still See You
- Google Counts More Than 1 Trillion Unique Web URLs
- AOL to Shut Down Xdrive, Other Services
Community Comments