Trend Micro Bug Cost $8 Million

The April release of buggy anti-virus software by Trend Micro cost the company $8.2 million (903 million yen) and forced it to lower revenue and profit forecasts for the next quarter, the Tokyo-based security firm said Thursday.

In late April, Trend Micro released a faulty virus update file that slowed thousands of PCs worldwide to a crawl by chewing up virtually every processor cycle. The company also said it was striving to put a dollar amount on the gaffe.

That direct $8 million loss that Trend's attributing to the incident isn't the only hit the company's taking, however.

According to its revised second quarter forecast, the mix-up will likely pull down net sales by almost 3 percent, and its net income by nearly 17 percent. That latter decrease translates into another 700 million yen, or $6.3 million.

The $8.2 million already spent went towards creating and staffing a call center to handle customer queries and complaints.