Watchguard EPDR causes laptop freezes

dmeijer

Dear all,

In recent months, we have rolled out WatchGuard EPDR within our organization. We initially ran it in "Hardening" mode for a few weeks and then switched to "Lock" mode.

However, we are experiencing sporadic issues with laptops, including complete system freezes and fans running at high speed. We also frequently observe very high CPU and memory usage on our clients caused by Application Host Service – Panda Cloud Antivirus Service.

We are using HP ProBook/EliteBook laptops with no other security software installed (no HP Wolf Security). The issue is becoming increasingly problematic, and we are often tempted to remove the software or temporarily disable Advanced Protection, which we would prefer to avoid.

Is this a known issue, and are there any solutions? We are currently running version 8.00.25.0002.

Thank you in advance.

David_Carro

Hello, @dmeijer

Right now, if you check the online console, we do have the latest version available: 8.00.26.0001 for R19.
You might want to try the latest version and see if the behaviour is maintained.

If you still have the same consumption, I recommend opening a case with the support team so we can request data and investigate the case.

dmeijer

Hi David, thank you for your response. I see the option to update the console, however is it also possible to deploy it only on a specific target (for testing purposes) before enrolling it to all of our devices?

David_Carro

Sure, it is.
You simply have to disable the upgrade on all targets, from the console, and enable it in only one Profile/Computer.
The devices will see the upgrade but will not apply it, except for the chosen one.

dmeijer

Thank you David. We will check whether the new version leads to improvements, and if not, we will submit a support case.

SaintKev2

Hi Dmeijer

We are also seeing this issue on our Probook's.

We are running 8.00.25.0002 and finding issues where the entire machine locks up... It can take 20 - 30 minutes for the machine to become responsive again during this time the laptop is just unusable, its completely unresponsive, it looks like EPDR is crashing out/failing and then the program eventually closes. At this point the machine starts working normally again and after a while EPDR relaunches itself. The frustrating thing is that there seems to be no rhyme or reason to it, it just happens randomly. If a user unplugs the laptop from the docking station they no longer have an internet connection and this can cause the program to crash out.. some of the time but not all the time.

Is this similar to what you are seeing?

David_Carro

I think the best course of action for your situation, @SaintKev2 , is to open a case with our troubleshooting team, so we can collect information from the device failing and provide a proper answer and solution.

As far as we are concerned, without sufficient data, we cannot provide a response with certainty.

dmeijer

@SaintKev2 said:
Hi Dmeijer

We are also seeing this issue on our Probook's.

We are running 8.00.25.0002 and finding issues where the entire machine locks up... It can take 20 - 30 minutes for the machine to become responsive again during this time the laptop is just unusable, its completely unresponsive, it looks like EPDR is crashing out/failing and then the program eventually closes. At this point the machine starts working normally again and after a while EPDR relaunches itself. The frustrating thing is that there seems to be no rhyme or reason to it, it just happens randomly. If a user unplugs the laptop from the docking station they no longer have an internet connection and this can cause the program to crash out.. some of the time but not all the time.

Is this similar to what you are seeing?

Hi SaintKev2,

Yes, that sounds very similar to what we are seeing. We will open a support case.