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ESET security update crashes PCs

By Nicole Kobie

Posted on 3 Sep 2010 at 10:12

A flawed update to ESET's virus definitions has caused major trouble for users of the security software.

ESET rolled out the update earlier this week, but has since been forced to issue a series of fixes after users reported seeing a warning of an error in "ekrn.exe", which is the key process at the centre of ESET's NOD32 and Smart Security systems.

"Other reported issues include ekrn crashing, systems not responding and threat notifications with blank name fields," ESET said.

I spend too much time fighting spyware and viruses to worry about fighting the software that is supposed to prevent them

The company advised users to restart their machines, update any ESET products, and then restart again. If the issue isn't solved, ESET advised customers to uninstall and reinstall the software. For business customers, ESET issued a utility tool to help clean up the problem.

ESET said it was still waiting to hear back from its developers about the cause of the problem, and didn't yet have data on how many users were affected.

A moderator on the ESET forums stressed that updates are tested before being released. "It was a combination of several factors that led to the issues," the moderator said. "I can assure you that the necessary measures will be taken to minimise the possibility of severe issues occurring after automatic updates."

Such assurances weren't enough to calm customers, who turned to those same forums to vent their anger. "I have spent the entire day remedying this problem," said one user. "I almost got fired for it."

"I promise ESET that they will get fired if anything like this ever happens again," the customer added. "I spend too much time fighting spyware and viruses to worry about fighting the software that is supposed to prevent them."

Others reported thousands of corporate servers being knocked offline because of the flaw. "We are a Fortune 50 company with NOD32 running on approximately 3,000 servers for our customer base," said another forum poster. "Having this many servers drop left and right requiring hard resets multiple times while your phones are ringing off the hook is not a fun experience."

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User comments

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

Alternate translation "who makes sure the police aren't bent". This is a problem of competence rather than corruption but it illustrates the argument for designing Operating Systems that are secure and reliable, rather than having to add multiple levels of security components.
Anyone for Unix?

By milliganp on 3 Sep 2010

Unix xD

Unix is worse than windows for security... if someone wanted to hack unix they could, where if MS finds a bug in their OS they fix it in no time, and with MS Security Essentials available for free, that makes windows the best choice of OS for security.

By SmilerOnline on 3 Sep 2010

...windows the best choice of OS for security.

Now you're just asking for trouble...

By greemble on 3 Sep 2010

Phew

That was a proper melt down in my office yesterday. I thought my switches had given up and then i was just confused. Not a fun day by all accounts. My suspicion was on NOD but just had to cross fingers and hope it never happened again. At least I know the cause now and can uncross my fingers.

By HersheyBike on 3 Sep 2010

Elephants and fateful short-term memory...

Ah, it's so easy to jump up and down on one software vendor. Yes OK, perhaps more testing could have been done and yes, perhaps a number of factors were involved.

I for one, haven't forgotten that it's not just ESET that have caused a problem for numerious people and organisations around the world. Remeber the absolute howler by McAfee in the not too distant past? And that in my mind was even worse! One shoddy fix was to copy a svchost.exe from a working XP machine! At least ESET only inadvertantly messed up it's own executable.

We use ESET Smart Security in house on a number of systems and servers, and we must have been some of the lucky ones - we're A-OK (so far).

By thematt on 3 Sep 2010