An update released by Webroot has caused the company’s home and business products to flag legitimate files and websites as malicious.
While the faulty update was only available for less than 15 minutes on Monday, many customers took to social media and Webroot’s forum to complain that it had caused serious problems for their organization. Users reported that hundreds and even thousands of their endpoints were affected.
The update caused Webroot to detect legitimate Windows files, including files signed by Microsoft, as W32.Trojan.Gen. Users also reported that files associated with some of their applications had been flagged as malicious and quarantined.
@Webroot @WebrootSupport This false positive issue is driving me insane. As an MSP, a true nightmare. No quarantine restores work. HELP!
— Limbaughnomicon (@Limbaughnomicon) April 25, 2017
The update also caused the antivirus to block access to Facebook after flagging the service as a phishing website.
“Webroot has not been breached and customers are not at risk. Legitimate malicious files are being identified and blocked as normal,” Webroot said on its forum.
The company has provided a workaround for small business customers, but there is still no solution for managed services providers (MSPs). A fix has also been pushed out for the Facebook issue.
“We understand that MSPs will require a different solution,” Webroot said. “We are currently working on this universal solution now.”
This is the second buggy update released by Webroot this year. An update rolled out in February caused many systems to crash.
Webroot is not the only security firm whose products have caused problems for users. Buggy updates were also released in the past by ESET, Panda Security, Norton and other antivirus vendors.
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