Microsoft Security Essentials accidentally marks Google Chrome as a Trojan

Having an anti-malware program installed on your computer is a must. Unfortunately, the folks who push the definition updates that power those programs are human — and every now and then a minor oversight can make a big difference. The biggest screw-up in recent memory happened when McAfee accidentally removed critical boot files from corporate Windows XP machines.

This time, it’s Microsoft in the hot seat — and the circumstances are kind of hilarious.

In a definition update pushed earlier today, a certain file was mistakenly marked as being malicious. That file? Chrome.exe, the main executable for Google Chrome.

Security Essentials (and presumably Forefront, its business-class cousin) wrongly detected Chrome as being a password stealer and a variant of the infamous Zeus trojan. The .EXE was removed, leaving users with broken shortcuts and no way to launch Chrome. New installations were blocked, too.

Microsoft quickly made the necessary changes to its definitions and pushed a new update that fixes the detection issue, so Chrome can

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