False positive detection of w32/wercorl.a in 5958 DAT

[Luisks]

McAfee antivirus update released today, far from improving security, caused chaos in some PCs with Windows XP Service Pack 3.

On these computers, the software detects that the computer had a virus w32/wecorl.a course actually was not present (causing a "false positive"). The error caused an invalid file was labeled as malware, which made it appear a blue screen (BSOD) or an error that forced reboot.

All this would have been so terrible if it were not for many companies and institutions are using Windows XP with this virus. One of those affected was the judiciary in Chile, which was attacked by a number of BSODs when McAfee updated this morning (causing paralysis in dealing with a number of causes).

The company sent a statement acknowledging an error in the 5958 virus definition (DAT), and stated that the problem has been solved and the faulty update was deleted so that no more teams will continue downloading.

To resolve this problem, if you've been affected, there are two alternatives. The first is to download the file and make it run EXTRA.DAT, which fix the situation. The second option is to do a "roll back" of the DAT, that is, back to yesterday's version antivirus (5957).

The company said the revised update will be available this afternoon and regretted the inconvenience caused by this impasse.​

 

[NixJedi]

Another reason why I don't use McAfee. They are on their way out.