An erroneous malware definition update caused Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) Security Essentials to incorrectly flag Google's (NASDAQ: GOOG) Chrome browser as malware late last week. In some instances, this also resulted in the deletion of Google Chrome from users' PCs.

The problem was rectified within a few hours, though not before hundreds of users reported the issue on the Google Chrome Help forum.

In response, Google responded on Friday with a blog post that outlined the manual steps for affected users to restore the Chrome browser. The company has since released a new version of Chrome for both its Stable and Beta channels, and which Google says renders the manual steps unnecessary. Microsoft has apologized for the debacle and says that about 3,000 Chrome users were affected by the flawed antivirus definition update.

In a statement from Microsoft, the company pointed to an incorrect detection of the PWS:Win32/Zbot. Affected customers were urged to manually update Microsoft Security Essentials with the latest signatures by clicking on the Update button at the Update tab of Microsoft Security Essentials. Microsoft says Chrome will need to be reinstalled separately.

While relatively limited in scope, this case highlights the chaos and loss of productivity an incorrect malware definition or problematic software update can trigger. Yet the rapid appearance of malware that exploits newly patched security flaws means that IT administrators are increasingly left with little or no time to test updates prior to installation.

For more:
- check out this article at Windows IT Pro
- check out this article at ZDNet
- check out this article at Computerworld

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