Microsoft cybersecurity has blocked Trend Micro anti-virus tool

For third-party drivers, passing Microsoft's Windows Hardware Quality Labs (WHQL) certification test is necessary.

If a driver meets the grade, it can be digitally signed by Microsoft, is trusted by Windows, and potentially can be distributed via Windows Update and similar mechanisms, reports The Registrar.

After reverse-engineering the driver, which sits at the heart of Trend Micro's Rootkit Buster software, Microsoft team were able to pinpoint flaws in the code, ascertaining that the software can evade hardware certification tests.

Meanwhile, Trend Micro has also withdrawn downloads of its rootkit detector that uses the driver.

Windows internals guru Alex Ionescu first discovered that Microsoft has blocked Trend Micro's driver.

Computer security researcher Bill Demirkapi also revealed shortcomings in the driver's code as well as an effort by the software to detect Microsoft's QA test suite.

The Rootkit Buster software has now disappeared from cybersecurity firm Trend Micro's website.

According to the company, they have found "a medium-level security issue and are working to ensure it is properly and quickly resolved". (IANS)

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