Windows Defender False Alarm: Safe Apps Marked as Viruses
Over the past few days, some users have noticed Windows Defender flagging popular system monitoring programs as potential threats. These alerts mentioned viruses, Trojans, or malware, which understandably caused concern. However, after looking deeper, it seems this was simply a false positive.
What Happened?
Programs like Traffic Monitor, Libre Hardware Monitor, Fan Control, and OpenRGB were being flagged by Windows Defender. These tools are widely used by PC enthusiasts to track CPU/GPU temperatures, system usage, fan speeds, and even control RGB lighting.
For example:
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Traffic Monitor shows download/upload speed, CPU/GPU usage, memory, and temperature.
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Libre Hardware Monitor is an open-source tool many other apps rely on to display hardware data.
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Fan Control allows users to adjust and manage PC cooling fans.
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OpenRGB lets you control your RGB lighting across different devices.
Because Libre Hardware Monitor is used as a base by many of these tools, when it was flagged, all dependent programs were also marked as unsafe.
Why Was This an Issue?
Every time the system started, Windows Defender would block these tools, sometimes disabling certain features like CPU temperature monitoring. The scary part was the Defender warning, which claimed these programs could execute commands from an attacker. Naturally, many users became worried.
However, scans on VirusTotal showed these programs to be completely clean. No actual threats were found.
Reports from Users
Many users reported this issue on different platforms, confirming it wasn’t just an isolated case:
These reports helped spread awareness and confirmed that many people faced the same false positives.
The Fix
After about a week of false alerts, Microsoft updated Windows Defender, and the issue was resolved. Now, these programs are no longer being flagged, and users can run them without problems.
What You Should Do
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If you use Traffic Monitor, Libre Hardware Monitor, Fan Control, or OpenRGB, you don’t need to worry—Windows Defender will no longer block them.
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If you ever face a similar issue, it’s best to double-check using tools like VirusTotal to confirm whether it’s a real threat or just a false positive.
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Always download these tools from their official GitHub repositories to ensure you’re getting the legitimate version.
Final Thoughts
False positives like this can be alarming, but they do happen occasionally. Thankfully, Microsoft fixed the problem quickly. If you rely on these open-source programs to monitor or control your system, you can continue using them safely.
Have you faced similar issues with Windows Defender before? Let us know in the comments!
I’ve also made a video on this topic — you can watch it below.
Check out my other posts, I post useful tutorials and tech tips, maybe you will find something useful 😉.
