Windows Defender Threat Detection for Viscosity

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Eric

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Joined: Sun Jan 03, 2010 3:27 am

Post by Eric » Thu Jan 04, 2018 7:30 pm
Update: Microsoft have resolved this issue. Please see the next post if you are still having problems.

As of the January 3 Windows Update (KB4056892), Viscosity's service is being detected by Windows Defender as a threat of type Trojan:Win32/Peals.F!cl and being quarantined. This is a false positive. Your installation of Viscosity is not infected with a trojan. We have reported this to Microsoft and are currently waiting for them to release updated malware definitions. This issue is reportedly widespread, with many applications being falsely flagged as the same trojan, not only Viscosity.

In the meantime, ViscosityService can be restored to allow Viscosity to be able to run again. To do this, click the notification of the threat in the Action Center, or go to Windows Defender Security Center -> Virus & threat protection (the shield on the left) -> Scan History. Select the Trojan:Win32/Peals.F!cl item, check it is the item that has quarantined ViscosityService.exe by clicking "See details", then click Restore.

Windows Defender may keep trying to quarantine ViscosityService. To prevent this, go to Windows Defender Security Center -> Virus & threat protection (the shield on the left) -> Virus & threat protection settings. Scroll down and click Add or remove exclusions. Click the + Add an exclusion, then select Folder. Navigate to C:\Program Files, select Viscosity, then click Select Folder. Please remember to remove this exclusion once this issue is reported as fixed.

After these steps, if Viscosity is still not able to run you will need to reinstall it. This can happen as Windows Defender's quarantine may also remove some of Viscosity's components. To do this, download the installer from our website and run it:
https://sparklabs.com/viscosity/download/

The installer may also be quarantined as well due to it containing ViscosityService. If this happens, follow the procedure above to restore the file and then run the installer.

Regards,
Eric
Eric Thorpe
Viscosity Developer

Web: http://www.sparklabs.com
Support: http://www.sparklabs.com/support
Twitter: http://twitter.com/sparklabs

Eric

User avatar
Posts: 1146
Joined: Sun Jan 03, 2010 3:27 am

Post by Eric » Fri Jan 05, 2018 12:30 pm
Update: Microsoft have resolved this issue. If you added an exclusion in Windows Defender for Viscosity we recommend you remove it.

If Viscosity (or any other applications) are still being falsely quarantined, please try the following:
- Start a command prompt with Administrator rights
- Run
Code: Select all
"C:\Program Files\Windows Defender\MPCmdRun.exe" -removedefinitions -dynamicsignatures
- Update your definitions via Windows Defender Security Center -> Virus & threat protection (the shield on the left) -> Protection updates
- Reboot your PC.

Regards,
Eric
Eric Thorpe
Viscosity Developer

Web: http://www.sparklabs.com
Support: http://www.sparklabs.com/support
Twitter: http://twitter.com/sparklabs
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