[funsec] Oops, Microsoft Anti-Spyware Deleting Norton Anti-Virus

[Richard M. Smith]

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/securityfix/2006/02/microsoft_antispyware_del
eting_1.html

Microsoft Anti-Spyware Deleting Norton Anti-Virus


Microsoft's
<http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/default.mspx>
Anti-Spyware program is causing troubles for people who also use Symantec's
<http://www.symantec.com/> Norton Anti-Virus software; apparently, a recent
update to Microsoft's anti-spyware application flags Norton as a
password-stealing program and prompts users to remove it. 

According to
<http://www.microsoft.com/communities/newsgroups/en-us/default.aspx?dg=micro
soft.private.security.spyware.announcements&tid=d254733e-d07b-43a6-88f6-f120
965938dd&p=1> several different
<http://www.microsoft.com/communities/newsgroups/en-us/default.aspx?dg=micro
soft.private.security.spyware.announcements&tid=dcbf5499-409f-4799-a8c0-703d
ba4d7e98&p=1> support threads over at Microsoft's user groups forum, the
latest definitions file from Microsoft "(version 5805, 5807) detects
Symantec Antivirus files as
<http://vil.mcafeesecurity.com/vil/content/v_100798.htm> PWS.Bancos.A
(Password Stealer)."

When Microsoft Anti-Spyware users remove the flagged Norton file as
prompted, Symantec's product gets corrupted and no longer protects the
user's machine. The Norton user then has to go through the Windows registry
and delete multiple entries (registry editing is always a dicey affair that
can quickly hose a system if the user doesn't know what he or she is doing)
so that the program can be completely removed and re-installed.

...

 

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