A flawed Kaspersky Endpoint Security update recently blocked Windows XP users from accessing the Internet.
“Angry users took to Twitter to vent steam and ask Kaspersky how to address the problem,” writes SC Magazine’s Darren Pauli. “One Australian IT manager, speaking to SC Magazine Australia on condition of anonymity, said he arrived at his business to find workstations crippled and a backlog of user support requests. He said his Windows XP and Windows 7 64-bit machines were affected.”
“The problem was fixed with a database update released on Jan. 5 at 2:31 a.m. Moscow Standard Time (Jan. 4 at 5:31 p.m. ET), according to [a] Kaspersky representative,” writes Computerworld’s Lucian Constantin. “Computers that download updates via the Kaspersky Administration Kit or Security Center management console will receive the fix automatically. However, computers that are configured to download the antivirus updates directly from Kaspersky’s update servers will need to first have the Web Anti-Virus component disabled, the Kaspersky representative said.”
“Broken updates are issued by security companies every once in a while,” notes The Next Web’s Emil Protalinski. “The last major one was in May 2012, when Avira crippled PCs around the world by blocking critical Windows processes and third-party software. While that case was arguably more severe, the issue was also fixed with an update.”
