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21 March 2010

We are very sorry for the problems that our update may have caused to your computer systems.

UPDATE Monday, 22 March 2010, 2:00 A.M PST:



We understand your disappointment , we have solved the problem for many of our users already and we are continuing to work relentlessly to rectify the problem for all users still affected.
Saturday around 8:20am PST, an update that we were working on was uploaded prematurely in our servers. This update affected only products running on Windows 64-bit systems. The update affected some of our home user product line as well as BitDefender Business Client and BitDefender Security for File Servers. Certain BitDefender and Windows files have been detected as Trojan.FakeAlert.5 and have been moved to quarantine. Only exe ,dll and other binary files have been quarantined (no pictures or documents). Consequently, for some systems, BitDefender did not run anymore, applications did not work or Windows could not start. By 11am PST, our team had reversed the faulty update so no additional users would be affected. Of those affected, we believe that only a fraction were not able to apply the new update, and from those many have already been assisted. We continue to support those of our users who currently require further assistance. Our teams are working around the clock to minimize the impact, including one-on-one support to fix the issue as quickly as possible.

We have been providing information to our users via support articles that are updated regularly as we implement solutions for the various customer configurations that are brought to our attention.


For those customers who are not able to find a solution via the support articles, we kindly ask them to contact our support team directly via email, chat, phone or forum at http://www.bitdefender.com/site/Main/contactEmail/ for home users and http://www.bitdefender.com/site/Main/contactEmailBusiness/ for business solutions. We strongly advise that users only follow guidance issued by BitDefender representatives, who have the expertise to address the most immediate problems in all configurations.

BitDefender is a trusted provider of software security solutions for nearly 10 years. Our customers have trusted our knowledge and technology expertise to protect their digital life. Over this period BitDefender has always worked very professionally to fulfill the expectations of our clients. We want you to be assured that this incident was an isolated one and that we will work with each of you to solve your problems. Please accept our apology for the inconvenience this has caused you and your clients.

Sincerely,
Florin Talpes

Chief Executive Officer
BitDefender�


UPDATE Sunday, 21 March 2010, 4:00 A.M PST:


We would like to provide you with a current update regarding the Trojan.FakeAlert.5 issue:

Yesterday BitDefender products running on Windows 64-bit systems experienced problems caused by a faulty update. Multiple BitDefender and Windows files have been incorrectly detected as Trojan.FakeAlert.5 and have been moved to quarantine. Based on the information we have, only .exe, .dll and other binary files have been quarantined (no pictures or documents). Consequently, on some systems BitDefender did not run anymore, applications did not work and/or Windows did not start on those systems.

Stats & Other Info:


  • The KB article describing the solution for home users is available here since Saturday, 3 PM PST: http://www.bitdefender.com/site/KnowledgeBase/consumer/#638

  • For BitDefender Client Security the patch with instructions is available here:
    http://www.bitdefender.com/site/KnowledgeBase/business/#643

  • For BitDefender Security for File Servers please follow the instructions is available here: http://www.bitdefender.com/site/KnowledgeBase/business/#642

  • The BitDefender official site has been updated with a press release on this topic Saturday around 4 PM PST

  • A patch has been made available Saturday around 11 PM PST time that fixes the problem.

  • There have been several �self help� articles on the internet that do not fully solve the problem. Please utilize official BD instructions and suggestions only.

  • Malware writers have already started to take advantage of this and they are distributing rogue removal tools (when searching for the BD virus name, most of the results redirect to websites that spread malware)


Solution

Operating System: Windows Vista 64b & Windows 7 64b
Solution: Non-bootable Windows Vista 64b can be repaired using the Windows Recovery option included on the Windows Vista CD. For all Windows Vista 64b systems a patch that restores all quarantined files has been provided.
Information available at this link: http://www.bitdefender.com/site/KnowledgeBase/consumer/#638

In regards to alternative support we will be addressing these issues in greater detail through an official statement, in the mean time please contact bitsy@bitdefender.com and place compensation in the title.

Regards,
BitDefender



UPDATE Saturday, 20 March 2010, 4:00 P.M PST :


The faulty update has been removed and we are quickly working on a fix for the issues experienced by the users that downloaded this update.Here is some background information on this problem:

Today (morning PST) we had an update for 64-bit systems (available on our servers between 8 AM and 11 30 AM PST) that caused multiple Windows and BitDefender files to be quarantined. We are creating a patch that will restore all quarantined files. The patch will be available shortly. We apologize for this error and we will work to prevent this from occurring again in the future.

BitDefender trojan alert update issue: BitDefender has released an alternative solution for users that are able to boot their systems. The details are available here http://www.bitdefender.com/site/KnowledgeBase/consumer/#638 . The solution for users that are not able to boot their system will be available shortly. Thanks for your understanding.

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