I'm having an issue with a MS Defender Threat Alert


  1. Posts : 102
    Windows 10 Home
       #1

    I'm having an issue with a MS Defender Threat Alert


    Hello All.

    I'm having an issue with MS Defender.

    I always scan RAR files with MS Defender and Malwarebytes before unpacking. The other day, I scanned a RAR file and MS detected a trojan (Malwarebytes did not detect anything). So, to avoid any potential threat, I just went ahead and deleted the RAR file without unpacking it. However afterwards, since MS detected a threat during the RAR file scan, it of course gave me an alert. In the Virus & Threat Protection window it gave me the prompt to Take Actions (quarantine, remove) and I clicked the button to proceed. However, since the file was already deleted, it seemes to be "confused" on how to proceed and just stays stuck on the Threat Detected prompt. I should have let Defender remove the file itself, but I got trigger happy and deleted it myself. So, even though the threat is gone (I ran a Full Scan with Defender and Malwarebytes to be safe), it won't clear out of the Threat Alert because it can't resolve the issue by removing or quarantining the detected file.

    The only way to clear the Threat Alert is to put the nonexistent threat in the Allowed Threats list, but I obviously don't want to keep it there in case I encounter this threat again. So, how do I get rid of this Threat Alert?

    Any help and insight would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 9,765
    Mac OS Catalina
       #2

    False Positive, ignore it.
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 102
    Windows 10 Home
    Thread Starter
       #3

    bro67 said:
    False Positive, ignore it.
    Seriously.

    I'm not asking if the threat was legitimate or not.

    My issue is that Defender is stuck in Threat Alert mode and I can't clear it back to the No Current Threat (green check mark) status.

    If you're really interested in helping me, please do me the courtesy of actually reading my post and giving a pertinent response.
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 9,765
    Mac OS Catalina
       #4
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 6,789
    22H2 64 Bit Pro
       #5
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 102
    Windows 10 Home
    Thread Starter
       #6

    bro67 said:
    How impressive, doubling down on ineptitude.
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 102
    Windows 10 Home
    Thread Starter
       #7

    Callender said:
    Sorry about the belated response, but thank you for the tip Callender.
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 2,123
    Windows 11 Pro (latest update ... forever anal)
       #8

    xlr8tx said:
    Hello All.

    I'm having an issue with MS Defender.

    I always scan RAR files with MS Defender and Malwarebytes before unpacking. The other day, I scanned a RAR file and MS detected a trojan (Malwarebytes did not detect anything). So, to avoid any potential threat, I just went ahead and deleted the RAR file without unpacking it. However afterwards, since MS detected a threat during the RAR file scan, it of course gave me an alert. In the Virus & Threat Protection window it gave me the prompt to Take Actions (quarantine, remove) and I clicked the button to proceed. However, since the file was already deleted, it seemes to be "confused" on how to proceed and just stays stuck on the Threat Detected prompt. I should have let Defender remove the file itself, but I got trigger happy and deleted it myself. So, even though the threat is gone (I ran a Full Scan with Defender and Malwarebytes to be safe), it won't clear out of the Threat Alert because it can't resolve the issue by removing or quarantining the detected file.

    The only way to clear the Threat Alert is to put the nonexistent threat in the Allowed Threats list, but I obviously don't want to keep it there in case I encounter this threat again. So, how do I get rid of this Threat Alert?

    Any help and insight would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
    False positive. Ignore it. Defender is just doing it's job, albeit not always accurately.

    False positives are a common phenomena with anti-malware programs that use heuristics to analyse files. It just becomes a matter of experience to learn how to read/interpret such results, and when to act or when action is not necessary.

    EDIT :
    "Until Microsoft sees fit to fix this problem, ...."

    Note that this link/information is 3 years old. Considerable program changes may have been effected since it's release. Making changes that effect subsequent detection may jeopardise genuine (positive) detection.

    A user should never rely absolutely on ANY antimalware service to provide absolute complete protection.
      My Computers


  9. Posts : 6,789
    22H2 64 Bit Pro
       #9

    @idgat

    I know it's an old problem but it still happens and I've had the issue myself recently where it was scanning detection history and alerting even thought the threat had been fully removed. The easy solution is to clear scan history.
      My Computer


 

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