The security solution encountered updating problems

Feb 9, 2007 14:30 GMT  ·  By

The security of our computer is more and more threatened by numerous infections coming on multiple Internet ways: instant messaging clients, file sharing application or e-mail messages. As you surely know, the most affected operating system is Microsoft's Windows that is currently installed on millions of computers from all around the world. The latest version of the operating system, Windows Vista, is regarded as the most secure edition of Windows because it contains application control manager, firewall and Windows Defender, an antispyware utility meant to block this type of infections.

Even if Windows Vista was designed to make the computer activities easier, it seems like users must install an antivirus solution because multiple threats especially designed for this operating system are already available on the Internet. The Vista-compatible antivirus products are numerous, but only some of them are really efficient and able to block multiple infections. Because it's not quite clear what applications must be installed to protect our system, Virus Bulletin conducted a test meant to present the most powerful antivirus solution for Windows Vista.

It seems like McAfee VirusScan, an antivirus tool known in the entire world, failed the test because it wasn't able to protect the system because a simple issue blocked the application from upgrading its virus database.

"After intensive investigation, VB has found that detection routines for the two malware samples missed were indeed included in the update package provided by McAfee. The problem was found to be a result of the way in which McAfee VirusScan interacts with User Access Controls (UAC) included in Windows Vista. Despite being run by a user logged on with administrator rights, the update program designed for use in sealed environments like the VB test lab was also required to be executed with the 'Run as administrator' option to succeed, but did not report this to the user or display an error messages when the update failed," it is mentioned in an article posted on the Virus Bulletin website.