The country's Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has ordered the software giant to withdraw what they termed an "unsubstantiated and misleading" print commercial last week following official complaints from freelance journalist Richard Clarke, reported South African technology news site ITWeb.

This controversial advertisement, which was published in the November issue of Time magazine and tech digest ITWeb Brainstorm, featured three extinct animals--a dodo, a wooly mammoth and a saber-tooted tiger?as well as a caricature of a hacker.

The caption which followed said Microsoft's software offers better data protection than a bank safe as it blocks authorized access and viruses. This is "tragic news for hackers," the advertisement claimed.

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