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Microsoft explained this afternoon why it issued a Windows Update, and then promptly pulled it, after blog reports raised questions about the update’s legitimacy.

KB 976902, described as an anti-piracy update, was released Tuesday, the same day Windows 7 Service Pack 1 release candidate became available. Yet KB 976902 did not have the customary attached “KB article,” describing the properties and purpose of the update. Well, that prompted considerable speculation about whether Microsoft was trying to slip one past us. The Web site TechARP described KB 976902 as the first mandatory anti-piracy update after previous versions were voluntary, meaning you could elect to apply them or not.

“This new update weighs in at a relatively hefty 10.2 MB, so it probably does more than just scan your Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 installation,” TechARP reported, also expressing skepticism that KB 976902 was a precursor update to Service Pack 1, noting that what little documentation Microsoft provided stated that the update cannot be removed once it is applied. TechARP then passed on further speculation from “some folks ... that it may also be some kind of spyware.”

In fairness to TechARP, message boards and other places in the blogosphere also were buzzing about this. This post from KrebsOnSecurity tries to put things into perspective.

Adding to the mystery, though, Microsoft today abruptly pulled KB 976902 altogether from Windows Update.

Networkworld has the details HERE!