Kaspersky update cuts users from internet

PanARMENIAN.Net - Russian computer security vendor Kaspersky has a novel way of protecting its users from internet malware, its latest update cuts them off from the internet completely, TechEye reports.

Millions of Kaspersky customers were left without internet access after a faulty anti-virus update was pushed out on Monday, Feb 4.

Users that figured out the cause of the problem jumped onto the company's online forum and expressed frustration at the lack of communication from the company.

Some were eventually told to disable web anti-virus or roll back updates to get back online. But some found that complicated. One forum poster moaned that he had spent 24 hours trying to fix it and that involved two online chats with Kaspersky.

The company said it rolled out an update early on Tuesday morning that fixed the problem but on Wednesday there were still reports from users that the problem remained. We guess the problem with an update cutting off your internet access is that you can't really use the web to fix the update.

Some claimed that the update was taking hours to download before stalling.

In a statement, Kaspersky said that if a machine updates directly from its servers, then the initial workaround should be applied first which means disabling the web anti-virus component. Internet connectivity will then be restored and the customer will be able to download the most recent database update, the outfit said.

The company said it apologised for any inconvenience caused by the database updates error and actions had been taken to prevent such incidents from occurring in the future.

The problem affected Kaspersky Anti-Virus for Windows Workstations 6.04 MP4; Kaspersky Endpoint Security 8 for Windows; Kaspersky Endpoint Security 10 for Windows; Kaspersky Internet Security 2012 and 2013; and Kaspersky Pure 2.0.