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Flawed McAfee update paralyzes corporate PCs
Network World ^ | 4/21 | Gregg Keizer

Posted on 04/21/2010 1:29:45 PM PDT by Battle Hymn of the Republic

A flawed McAfee antivirus update sent enterprise administrators scrambling today as the new signatures quarantined a crucial Windows system file, crippling an unknown number of Windows XP computers, according to messages on the company's support forum.

The forum has since gone offline.

(Excerpt) Read more at networkworld.com ...


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KEYWORDS: mcafee; microsofttax
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To: cynwoody

Sorry, but that is no longer true.

Even Google, the search engine, has been infected with virus/trojan/tracker problems. If one happened to open a related web page from an 'innocent' search, one got a trojan infestation. Those may not show up immediately, but they can do severe damage to your files and to your hardware.

Even trusted webpages can sometimes get infected.

My AVAST! has alerted me several times to such potential problems.

==

If you are not running a virus program, even if you have a firewall, you are asking for trouble and you will eventually get hit with a bad virus/trojan/tracker.
41 posted on 04/21/2010 1:56:16 PM PDT by TomGuy
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To: taxcontrol

Of coure it wouldn’t. Even if you ran McAfee this update still wouldn’t bother you because it is deleting a core component of Windows Xp. FWIW It doesn’t effect Vista or Win7.


42 posted on 04/21/2010 2:02:38 PM PDT by aft_lizard (Barack Obama is Hugo Chavez's poodle.)
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To: Battle Hymn of the Republic

this would be a bad, bad day to be a System Admin for a company that bought McAfee


43 posted on 04/21/2010 2:09:56 PM PDT by Buckeye McFrog
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To: Battle Hymn of the Republic
At home, I switched to the free Microsoft Security Essentials. Yeah, yeah, jokes aside....

McAfee was a resource hog, and I've had to clean up problems on friends' PC's caused by Norton, although I'd pick Norton over McAfee.

44 posted on 04/21/2010 2:11:54 PM PDT by Mannaggia l'America
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To: ConservativeMind

Looks like that should be the free one (Alwil Software Avast Free 5.0.396) misses 3.7%, not just 0.7%.


45 posted on 04/21/2010 2:12:37 PM PDT by jurroppi1 (America, do not commit Barry Care-y!)
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To: driftdiver
Well known and reputable websites get hacked. If you visit them your computer will be infected without some kind of defense.

That depends on what you are using for a browser. Never use IE.

Actually, the most insidious things I've heard of have been bugs in Adobe Reader and WinZip. If you open the wrong file with an unpatched version of either of those, you are owned. I don't use either of them. For PDFs, I use Foxit on Windows and Preview or the Firefox PDF plugin on the Mac. And I use 7-Zip on Windows for zip files and other types of archives. Easier to use, compresses better, and is secure.

46 posted on 04/21/2010 2:15:10 PM PDT by cynwoody
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To: cynwoody
There are free anti-virus programs out there. Avast is a good one. I have not had a virus in years. Recently Avast caught one before it could do any damage.
47 posted on 04/21/2010 2:22:05 PM PDT by raybbr (Someone who invades another country is NOT an immigrant - illegal or otherwise.)
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To: GCC Catholic

I have a box with Ubuntu. Every time I boot it there are about 50 updates waiting to load. Does that happen to you too?


48 posted on 04/21/2010 2:24:12 PM PDT by raybbr (Someone who invades another country is NOT an immigrant - illegal or otherwise.)
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To: Battle Hymn of the Republic

I run an XP VM within Win7 to get to my corporate net. It’s still chugging along but I did just now backup my VM files so I can restore my VM to this point if need be.


49 posted on 04/21/2010 2:24:58 PM PDT by VeniVidiVici
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To: cripplecreek

Avira is better and it’s free. Check out the tests showing Avira beating both Norton and McAfee.


50 posted on 04/21/2010 2:25:52 PM PDT by Sir Gawain
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To: jurroppi1

“Avast” is not “Avira,” but both are free.

The Avira tested is effectively identical to the free Avira, but you don’t get their “Webguard” (it restricts you from bad sites) or their “EmailScanner” (it performs the check on email as they come in rather than when the payload executes).

I think you are getting the names confused.


51 posted on 04/21/2010 2:35:19 PM PDT by ConservativeMind (Hypocrisy: "Animal rightists" who eat meat & pen up pets while accusing hog farmers of cruelty.)
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To: jurroppi1; Battle Hymn of the Republic; ReneeLynn

This is the free version of Avira:

http://free-av.com/

I just noticed they don’t actively mention it on their current website when you click on the Home area. They used to, but I fear too many weren’t paying for the upgraded versions.

That said, there is one annoyance with the free one—when it updates the software, an ad for Avira pops up in a browser window. You click on “Okay” and it’s gone.

I was able to get the next version up for 25% off, so I upgraded recently and got rid of the once-a-day ad.


52 posted on 04/21/2010 2:41:19 PM PDT by ConservativeMind (Hypocrisy: "Animal rightists" who eat meat & pen up pets while accusing hog farmers of cruelty.)
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To: ConservativeMind

Much better choices: Avira ...

When I run comprehensive anti-spyware/anti-virus testing every 3 months or so, I use Adaware, AVG, Avira, Microsoft Malicious Software Removal Tool, and SpyBot.

For day-to-day, I run Avira on the machine, along with Zone Alarm. Used to use AVG day-to-day, but Version 9 seems to have bogged down my ‘puter [still use it every 3 months though].


53 posted on 04/21/2010 2:41:50 PM PDT by Lmo56
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To: doc11355; Swordmaker; dayglored

See...this is an example of the idiot Apple guy that gives apple users a bad name.


54 posted on 04/21/2010 2:42:13 PM PDT by for-q-clinton (If at first you don't succeed keep on sucking until you do succeed)
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To: stylecouncilor

ping


55 posted on 04/21/2010 2:43:44 PM PDT by onedoug
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To: Lmo56

Spybot is good. Check out SpywareBlaster also. It prevents the files from ever getting downloaded. It’s not a scan tool, but a preventative one.


56 posted on 04/21/2010 2:47:44 PM PDT by Sir Gawain
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To: cynwoody

If you use a browser you are at risk.


57 posted on 04/21/2010 2:50:13 PM PDT by driftdiver (I could eat it raw, but why do that when I have a fire.)
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To: ConservativeMind

A speaker from trend reported 100,000 new malware signatures were released every day. I’d imagine those comparisons depend a lot on when they were tested.


58 posted on 04/21/2010 2:51:28 PM PDT by driftdiver (I could eat it raw, but why do that when I have a fire.)
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To: Battle Hymn of the Republic

McAffee/Norton is to virus protection what the BATF is to law enforcement.

Over-armed, hyper-charged, over-zealous, and totally unnecessary.

Use MS Essentials. Free, no hassles, no bloat.


59 posted on 04/21/2010 2:54:11 PM PDT by Westbrook (Having more children does not divide your love, it multiplies it.)
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To: for-q-clinton; doc11355; Swordmaker; dayglored

Thank you for-q-clinton


60 posted on 04/21/2010 2:54:18 PM PDT by driftdiver (I could eat it raw, but why do that when I have a fire.)
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