Yep. Looks like updates will be blocked for current users. Best find something else. From that article:
With its long and repeated history of government involvement in their software resulting in multiple bans in several countries, including government computers in the US, this ban should have been put in place years ago. It is really sad, because KIS typically is a good security program for individuals. But sadly, history has shown the company is not totally autonomous, or free from government interference. Fortunately, there are many good (including free) alternatives.
Not in the least. Please don't attempt to tell others what I am talking about. You clearly can't and definitely are not. I appreciate you saying you are with me, but when only after restating what I said as totally inaccurate as that was, not even close to paraphrasing, making such falsehoods up is simply offensive, if not deceitful. Google it. 2018 EU Claims Kaspersky Lab Software 'Confirmed as Malicious' (bankinfosecurity.com) 2022 Germany warns against Russian anti-virus use (bbc.com) 2017 US agencies ordered to stop using Russian company's software | AP News 2022 More must reconsider Russian anti-virus software use, UK warns (bbc.com) 2017 Israeli spies found Russians using Kaspersky software for hacks (cnbc.com) 2018 Kaspersky antivirus software 'controlled by Russian spies' | Daily Mail Online 2023 Canada joins list of nations to ban Kaspersky and WeChat from government devices | TechRadar I could go on and on, but so can you.
its a political decision, no rational. anyhow Eugene K. has some strange views to things happening in russian, proposing them. and kaspersky is involved into development of current russia drones. no one can be sure whats really going on with kaspersky, but it looks fishy.
Huh? Did you not read any of the links I provided? Do you think they are all lying? Did you not notice they go back years? Did you do your own research if you don't believe the links I provided? To be 100% sure, this is NOT about the good people; the normal, hard working citizens of any of these countries. And sure, the ongoing cyberwarfare between the free world (US, Canada, UK, EU, Australia, etc.) and Russia, China, Iraq, N. Korea and others is a geopolitical thing. But to say there is no rationale is simply being naïve and uninformed. I totally agree! However, it is a well documented fact that Eugene was education in FSB/KGB backed schools. And ties between the company and the Kremlin are also well documents - again going way back in years. This is not a new issue and definitely not a "he said, she said" scenario. There have been many independent reports! Here's another going back further, to 2015. Kaspersky, Bloomberg Spar Over KGB Allegations | PCMag Note in that article, Kaspersky himself acknowledged close ties with the FSB (formally the KGB), "Coincidental"? Week after week after week? Yeah right. Fishy indeed. Does Eugene know for a fact there are (or are not) any FSB "plants" working in the company? Of course not. That's what plausible deniability is all about. I reiterate - the software, generally speaking, is a good security program for the average individual, private citizen. Those folks generally are not targets of state sponsored cyberwarfare actors.
Thanks for the links you provided! Unfortunately there is almost no proof in those articles that Kaspersky actually spied/attacked another country or individual. Even the articles you mentioned state that there is little to no evidence that any hack actually happened, except for the case of the Israeli spies. And even in that case though, there is a big question if Kaspersky helped the hackers or if the hackers used a vulnerability in Kaspersky's software to steal information. Now, to be honest, as an AV software has almost complete access to a computer, it is not impossible that a bad actor state uses the AV to hack another state's computers, and from this point of view I agree that Kaspersky is a liability given the international context. If that justifies a ban for everyone, not just for critical infrastructure, that is an entire matter altogether.
Right. Because the KGB, CIA, German FIS, Mi6, Mossad and others typically leave incontrovertible, incriminating evidence behind. Right? That's why I didn't post 1 or 2, or even 3 or 4 links. But 8 total. You say "almost no proof"? Isn't that like "almost pregnant"? I mean proof is proof to me. Even circumstantial evidence is enough to convict. And there is more than that here. Oh? Where is that question? And with all the other evidence (circumstantial or not) why would that one question be enough to make moot the entire issue? It doesn't. But to it, the point again is not about any vulnerability, but how that vulnerability got there. The "allegation" (if that appeases you) is that "planted" agents in the guise of employees injected that vulnerability surreptitiously into the code, later to be exploited. And all that supposedly was without the consent or knowledge of Eugene so he could claim plausible deniability. I see no reason to discuss this further. You can Bing DDG Google it and do your own research. It seems to me if the EU (with its 27 member countries), US, UK, and a host of other governments don't trust the software, that is good enough for me. If you want to trust it on your computers, send your money that way. That's up to you. I doubt there would be any significant benefits. There are just too many excellent alternatives, including many free. And more and more people are realizing that Defender (what I use on all our computers here) actually is a very good security solution too - despite what all the MS haters want the rest of us to believe.
Probably most of them to some degree but I expect a lot will just use Microsoft Defender because it's free.
And it works. But there are several other free and very capable alternatives too. So when spread around, any increase with one app in particular would be minimal.
I believe all of them will get some of Kaspersky's clients. How they try to capitalize on it is what interests me right now... We had some quite unethical attitudes back when the US Government banned Kaspersky from any Government-related networks and those companies entered my "I will never use them" list.
As for myself I quit using Kaspersky long before the US ban. Not because I did not like it but for personal reasons…
Leaving aside your sarcasm, I don't think it's a fair comparison. Microsoft, Google, and Facebook are not state actors trying to hack the infrastructure of other countries as Russia has done. Kaspersky would have to relocate to a different country to credibly claim it was free of Russian government influence.
That's not true at all. Come on, Mr.X. Set aside your obvious anti-MS biases and do a little homework before making such nonsensical and totally false claims, okay? Of course it is an AV. In fact, it is a fully capable, full spectrum "anti-malware" solution protecting consumers (as in normal users too) against viruses, Trojans, worms, spyware, ransomware and other forms of malware. It even detects and blocks "malicious activity" in the computers operating environment (virtual memory). Even AV-Test shows not only does it meet or exceed AMTSO anti-malware testing criteria, it earned AV-Tests "Top Product" certification by achieving 6 out-of 6 in all 3 categories, including the all important "Protection" category. It is NOT at all a tool to spot patches. Spot patches? That makes no sense at all, to be truthful. So PLEASE, don't degrade this thread on Kaspersky by turning it into yet another opportunistic Microsoft bashing session. If you don't like Defender, fine! But don't post obvious falsehoods. It only makes you look foolish - especially since the truth is only seconds away with our friend, Bing DDG Google. Exactly right. It might even be too late for that. Maybe if Eugene K. (who again, was trained in FSB/KGB run schools) totally left the company too, then, maybe, some credibility would return in time.
They already did that. Their corp. headquarters are now in Switzerland. Problem is software development is still done in Russia. Also, Eugene and family still reside in Russia. Ditto for other corp. execs..
I forgot about that. My bad. But still, as you noted, their developers are still in Russia as well as most of the execs.
Another question is if this update ban effective in Sept. will affect other AV products that use the Kasperky engine; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaspersky_Lab
Good question. No doubt those companies are scrambling to see how and where the same code is used. Hmmm, I see that Wikipedia page still says the HQ is in Moscow.
Full details on "Final Determination: Case No. ICTS-2021-002, Kaspersky Lab, Inc." here: https://www.federalregister.gov/doc...ation-case-no-icts-2021-002-kaspersky-lab-inc .
Didn't Kaspersky detect US Government spyware on a customer's machine? Wasn't that why the US got upset over Kaspersky?
I'm sure that was a reference to software cracks that would "activate" programs not paid for. Multiple AV products make great effort to do this (Defender, Norton, Trend Micro, etc.). If they should could be up for debate. In the case where they are malicious I say they should, obviously. I don't use them either way.
