Tuesday, 14 November 2006

Microsoft Points Fingers at Gmail

Microsoft has started flagging Gmail as a virus in their virus scanning software Windows Live OneCare. Many people are reporting that every time they open Gmail, a warning is displayed telling the user they are infected with 'BAT/BWG.A'.

Numerous posts on both OneCare and Gmail forums have reported sightings of the warning, which appears to occur only after upgrading to the new web browser. One Gmail user was apparently instructed to delete all his archived mail by a OneCare support technician, while others have been advised to clear their web caches, to little effect. Many have suggested a false positive from the Microsoft product, while others have assumed the detection is an attempt to block access to rival services.

Some forum postings can be viewed at Microsoft's OneCare help centre or at the Gmail problem forum. Very little information on the Bat/BWG.A virus is available at Microsoft's threat centre, here, although a similarly named e-mail worm is described by Trend Micro, here.