Trend Micro Faulty Update Freezes PCs

Trend Micro would now have an idea about how important it is to test software properly. The security software maker and the developers of the OfficeScan and PC-cillin Anti-Virus applications apparently distributed a faulty virus definition file on Friday to their customers. The faulty update for the antivirus applications led to massive problems for the users of their applications as the systems crawled down due to heavy processor usage.

The company admitted that it was a mistake on their part. The faulty definition files were released on the web at around 3:30 p.m. PDT to both the Trend Micro Web site and the automatic update servers. These update were for the applications: Trend Micro’s OfficeScan, PC-cillin, ServerProtect for NT, Client/Server Suite for SMB, and Client/Server/Messaging Suite for SMB. However, in addition of updating the application, the flaw brought machines to their knees by eating excessive processor cycles.

Trend Micro said in a statement: “We confirmed that a virus pattern file which we distributed on April 23, 2005, from 7:33 a.m. to 9:02 a.m., Tokyo Local Time, significantly slowed the performance of our customers’ computers and in some cases made their computers inaccessible. This trouble was caused by insufficient work in compatibility testing of the product with the operating system before it was released.”

The company fixed the bug and updated the files with patched versions within 90 minutes. However, it was not good enough as a lot of users apparently got affected by this glitch from the security company. The company also posted information on how to revert from the faulty update. Later, the company clarified their stand and said: “We promise that we will further strive for and improve our quality control to avoid future occurrences of similar problems.”