Panda releases self-loathing antivirus that thinks its malware

13 Mar 2015

Developers from the antivirus software company Panda Security will no doubt be keeping a low profile after its latest software was found to view itself as harmful malware.

The update released on Wednesday is not just an annoyance, but a major issue given that it fundamentally makes the person’s computer not only very unstable, but also, in many cases, left the user unable to connect to the internet.

According to The Register, the free anti-virus service took to Twitter to ask its users to not do the one thing that is the go-to response for any computer issue, to turn it off and on, but the issue appeared to only be limited to Panda’s Cloud Office Protection, Retail 2015 products and its free anti-virus software.

One source approached The Register to say, “Dozens of installs of Panda Antivirus across multiple sites all just detected components of itself as a virus, simultaneously. Perhaps 60 in total across five sites, out of an installed base of around 300.”

Two days later, Panda Security is still updating its customers on the latest news for the oversight, including a desperate plea for people not to uninstall the software and offering advice on how to solve the issue.

Either way, one user took to Twitter to show his or her dissatisfaction at the malfunction.

Pandas image via Shutterstock

Colm Gorey was a senior journalist with Silicon Republic

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