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German security firm Avira yesterday issued a service pack for itsantivirus software that crippled an unknown number of Windowsmachines, with one customer calling the gaffe "catastrophic" to hiscompany. Today, Avira updated the software to sidestep the problem. "Following the release of Service Pack 0 (SP0) for Avira Version2012, the ProActiv feature blocked legitimate Windows applicationson customers' PCs," Avira acknowledged on its support site. "We deeply regret any difficulties this hascaused you." Avira is the world's second-biggest antivirus maker, according tousage statistics. The service pack included an update to ProActiv, a behavioral-basedmonitoring system that watches for suspicious events that may hintat a malware attack or point to an infection. Users quickly reported that the updated ProActiv was blockingalmost every legitimate Windows executable file -- those with the".exe" extension -- meaning that most applications refused tolaunch. Even worse, ProActiv prevented critical Windows files fromrunning, which in many cases "bricked" PCs, or kept them from evenproperly booting. The inadvertent blocking impacted Avira Professional Security,Avira Internet Security 2012 and Avira Antivirus Premium 2012, paidproducts priced between $30 and $60. Avira's free antivirussoftware, which has limited functionality -- and does not includeProActiv -- was not affected. Customers were understandably irate. "This update has been pretty catastrophic. The whole company groundto a standstill," reported someone identified as "AaronH" in aTuesday message on Avira's support site . "I've been a big proponent of Avira within our company, but Ithink that may change when it comes time to renew our license in afew months." According to the same support discussion thread, Avira's fix simplydisabled ProActiv. The company will reportedly investigate touncover the root cause of the massive blocking before re-enablingthe feature. Avira isn't the first antivirus vendor to cripple or damage Windowssystems with a flawed update. Last September, Microsoft's Security Essentials and Forefront --its consumer- and enterprise-grade antivirus software, respectively-- issued a faulty malware signature update that deleted Google's Chrome browser from thousands of PCs. Before that, all three of the world's largest antivirus companies-- Symantec, McAfee and Trend Micro -- had shipped defectivedefinitions. In some cases, those mistakes have wreaked as much ormore havoc as the Avira blunder. In April 2010, for example, an update from McAfee paralyzed an unknown number of corporate PCs when it quarantined a crucial Windows XP system file. According to security vendor Opswat, which reports on usage shareevery quarter ( download PDF ), Avira products accounted for 11.6% of all operating copies ofantivirus software in the first quarter of 2012, putting the firmin second place worldwide behind Avast, and ahead of AVGTechnologies and Microsoft. In North America, where Symantec, Microsoft and AVG were the topthree vendors, Avira had just 4.4% of the market. Gregg Keizer covers Microsoft, security issues, Apple, Web browsersand general technology breaking news for Computerworld. FollowGregg on Twitter at @gkeizer , on Google+ or subscribe to Gregg's RSS feed . His email address is . See more by Gregg Keizer on Computerworld.com . Read more about security hardware and software in Computerworld's Security Hardware and Software Topic Center. We are high quality suppliers, our products such as China 9.7 Inch Android Tablet , 7 Inch Touchpad Tablet PC Manufacturer for oversee buyer. To know more, please visits Android Touchpad Tablet PC.
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