Tech Shout!

Microsoft has admitted that its Windows Live OneCare security suite has inadvertently deleted the emails of a few Outlook and Outlook Express users. The Live OneCare security suite is aimed at protecting families online and includes features such as content filtering technologies, alongwith contact management, activity reports, and guidance on online safety issues.

Reportedly, postings on Microsoft’s OneCare forum maintain that erasures have been caused when the antivirus program finds a virus in an e-mail attachment. Instead of then quarantining that single e-mail, users have reported that entire .pst or .dbx files the personal folder where non-Exchange Server users’ messages and other details are kept - have been quarantined or, in some cases, even deleted.

One user inquired on the forum: “Is there a chance to recover it? If not, OneCare will have done more damage than any virus in my 30 years of active computing.” Forum postings indicate, however, that recovery is possible in some cases, where the .pst or .dbx file is still available in OneCare’s quarantine facility.

In a statement reported on Computerworld, a Microsoft spokesperson confirmed that the company was “working to address an issue where the antimalware engine for OneCare is erroneously quarantining Outlook .pst files or Outlook Express .dbx files, when the .pst file or .dbx file contains an infected attachment”. Furthermore, the spokesperson said that a fix would be included in the next OneCare update, which is due on 13 March.

Microsoft Live OneCare antivirus has been hit this year by constant criticism, having only days ago failed to achieve certification in an independent test of security products. A little before that, it came into sight that the product did not sufficiently protect users of Microsoft’s Vista operating system against malware.

This surely isn’t great news for the software giant, especially keeping in mind that currently it is in the move of promoting the Vista and Office 2007 products in the market along with their security applications offering.