Microsoft’s latest security updates will not provide a patch for Windows XP computers that have been infected with a rootkit virus.
Basically the updates will detect if you have the virus and if it is found then the updates won’t be installed.
“This security update includes package-detection logic that prevents the installation of the security update if certain abnormal conditions exist on 32-bit systems” Microsoft says in the patch notes accompanying the updates.
“Abnormal conditions on a system could be the result of an infection with a computer virus that modifies some operating system files, which renders the infected computer incompatible with the kernel update,” Microsoft said in its statement.
The reason the updates won’t be installed says the computer giant is because the February updates caused computers infected with the Alureon root virus to keep crashing endlessly.
The latest batch of security updates for Windows was released on 16 April and some of them fix vulnerabilities in the core, or kernel, of Windows, which is the same place that Rootkits try to hide themselves in order to avoid detection
In the case of the Alureon root virus, which first appeared in 2008 and has been spreading ever since, the potential impact can be devastating.
The Rootkit works by monitoring web traffic and by stealing user names, passwords and credit details that have been entered over the web. It can also provide a back door for hackers to get into the infected computers.
Microsoft really don’t want a repeat performance of what happened in February where users found that installing the security updates caused their computer to crash and for this to make them wary of installing updates in the future.
Microsoft is recommending that anyone whose computer or laptop is infected with the rootkit virus to use Microsoft’s malware removal tools or rootkit detectors from other providers to clean their devices.
It isn’t clear at the moment how many people are not going to be able to install the most recent updates. However, if the updates are not installed then the computer is vulnerable.
It isn’t difficult to remove the rootkit and there are a number of rootkit detection and removal tools widely available on the net that will be able to do the job. After the rootkit has been removed, you will be able to install the updates without any problems.
