Issue with Microsoft Security Essentials

For those of you relying on Microsoft, you might want to get your updates manually - and don't count on MSE's "dynamic signature service"

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The H Security

http://www.h-online.com/security/ne...rus-software-dawdles-over-updates-838203.html

"Under certain circumstances, Microsoft's recently launched Security Essentials (MSE) security solution fails to download updates for several days, despite new anti-virus signatures being available on the server. As a result, the software no longer offers adequate protection against new malware. These are the results found in tests run by The H's associates at heise Security for the latest edition of the computer magazine c't.

The tests showed that, despite being connected to the Internet, under certain circumstance MSE fails to download updates for up to seven days. The phenomenon was reproducible, occurring, for example, on a laptop which was regularly placed in sleep mode by closing the lid. On resuming from sleep mode every day, MSE assured the user, even after more than an hour online, that anti-virus and spyware signatures were up to date and that the user was protected.

Taking a closer look at the date, however, revealed that these signatures were often several days old. A search of Microsoft's website showed that the company had since released several update packages containing new signatures. The computer was therefore not properly protected against dozens of known hazards which Microsoft itself classified as 'severe'.

MSE appears to have just a few, fixed times at which it checks whether new signatures are available to download. If it sleeps through these times, on waking it fails to correct this omission — at least as long as the signatures are not more than one week old. For up to six days the application appears to regard its signatures as sufficiently up to date, after which it finally switches its status to a warning yellow and attempts to download updates off-schedule. To add insult to injury this test is also delayed, so that for the first quarter to half an hour after resuming, even 10 day-old signatures are shown as being up to date, giving the user a wholly false sense of security.

Microsoft has been unable or unwilling to confirm this behaviour, let alone to promise that they will fix it.After two weeks of communication, the software giant's point of view boils down to this: “those who do not get updated signatures downloaded to their PCs for 6 days will still be protected by the very latest definitions through the Dynamic Signature Service.”

Microsoft's optimistic assessment does not appear to be borne out by the facts. Tests by c't regularly show that the protection offered by anti-virus software diminishes rapidly where new signatures are not downloaded. Anti-virus software using two-week old signatures typically detects just 30 to 50 per cent of new malware. Nor is the "Dynamic Signature Service" quite what it's cracked up to be. When AV-Test.org tried running 20 pieces of malware, for which MSE did not have signatures, on a system running MSE, not a single one triggered an alarm and all 20 were able to infect the system"

 

Already discussed in the MAIN thread, yet another useless thread creation. Microsoft already have a beta build running.

 

You do realize people don't ALWAYS go thur and read all threads in the board. This seems to be the first thread that is titled about this. Just because someone don't read a 22 page thread that is not even about that issue in no way makes this thread useless.


Yes there is a issue, Yes they are working on it hopefully it will be fixed soon.

 

Well.... ok

 

"yet another useless thread creation" What's your point? You keep doing this! Are you a monitor wanabe or what?

 

I'm using a third party task scheduler which works great. I have it update every 3hrs. It also hides the DOS screen when it executes for the updates. They definitely have an issue with the updating with certain combos.

Ice

 

Could you share this 3rd party scheduler with us?

Thanks

 

Main problem here is that it's checking for updates only every 24 hours and the fact that it doesn't check for update as soon as internet connection is detected. Because if MSE was doing that, there would be no problem.
avast! checks on new connection and so is AVG and NOD32 also. It's important to have proper protection before you go online. So why not check for update at that point?

 

i just had problems with the updates on that, i thought after reading this i would do a manual update, and error 80200010 came up, cannot update. i thought i would try windows update, 2 critical updates couldnt be installed, so i had to reboot, rebooted and installed them updates, and now i can update, but i dont know how long its been like this, not a word from it. now the definitions are up to date but they could of been a week old... might get a different freebie again me thinks

 

The company is called splinterware and the utility is called System scheduler. I use the free version and it works perfectly.

Ice

 

Many thanks. I will google it and give it a try.