Google Cleans Microsoft Mess With Updates For Chrome Browser
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Microsoft flagged Google’s Chrome browser as malware over the long weekend, deleting the dominant web browser from 3,000 computers, forcing Google to step in and clean up their mess.


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Source: LA Times

On Saturday, updated versions of Chrome’s ‘stable’ and ‘beta’ channels were released, a day after Microsoft’s antivirus software flagged Chrome as a Zeus botnet Trojan. According to ComputerWorld, Window’s computers were affected as the antivirus deleted the chrome execution file.

When the fiasco caught Microsoft’s attention, they released an antivirus definition file within hours, but within that time 3,000 chrome users had been affected. 

On Friday, Google responded in a blog post outlining how the browser could be restored.

“The team rolled out another update of the Chrome stable and beta builds to ensure that users who may have had their Chrome executable deleted due to the faulty [Microsoft Security Essentials antivirus] updater would receive a new update of Chrome,” a Google spokeswoman said in an email.

Many users had to manually uninstall/reinstall Chrome for it to work soundly again.

Google’s Chrome stores bookmarks on the company’s server, creating a back-up of their browser’s setup. However, according to Google’s spokeswoman, some users affected may have lost their bookmarks.

Read: Microsoft Nobbles Google Chrome After Declaring It Malware

“Bookmarks, etc. should remain unless users checked the box ‘Also delete your browsing data?’ during the manual uninstall/reinstall,” said the Google spokeswoman.