Kaspersky goodbye letter 😔
I know they're prevented from updating US systems, but I wonder how. Can it be gotten around by VPNing into another country? Are they looking at the accounts that sign up with a US address and blocking them?
I don’t know the reasons precisely, but I heard there are issues with processing payments to/from Russia, so if you can’t pay for Kaspersky, then VPN or not - it’s not going to help…
Massive sanctions against Russia over the ongoing “special military operation”
And the fact that they got caught working with the russian fsb and were scanning data from government employees that were silly enough to use a security service from what the usa considered an adversary.
It's a shame, they really had good software and tools and I'm sure normal people don't have much to worry about but out of principle I would not use it as they are compromised at this point. I'm sure they didn't have a choice, if so that sucks but If the fsb wants your cooperation in russia they're gonna get it.
I was thinking more of currently activated licenses. As I understood it, there's a cut off date (sep?) that Kas has to stopall US activities, including updating their SW.
I was a longtime Kas user until a few years ago when I switched to BitDefender. But then starting late last year, BD was just killing my system, it added a few minutes to my boot up and I found that just trying to launch apps would often be delayed. I tried uninstalling and reinstalling, tried using BD's uninstaller from their support site, tried using Revo uninstaller (which I wasn't impressed by ultimately, because I still found several BD folders with things in them), and reinstalling again...the issue remains.
So I switched back to Kas a few months ago and my system speed is fine. So I can't really go back to BD at this point (short of a fresh system install and seeing if that fixes the issue)
I find the whole Bitdefender affair unbelievable.
They have good detection rates but their software acts like stubborn malware and their business practices are predatory.
The vibe I get from them is literally the vibe criminals selling you 'protection' give.
I don't have or want Bitdefender myself.
Stupid question, why not relocate from Russia to one of EU countries or USA?
They're russians for one. Would you leave ur home country so easily? Family, friends. They most certainly have connections within the russian government and it certainly benefits them. And most likely they can't even if they wanted to. All their assets are in russia. They can't just leave, russia would just confiscate the company and the government will just give it to one of their oligarchs buddies. That's assuming it's not already owned by a oligarch in one way or another. And it probably at the very least has connections to one. Everything does over there. This isn't a democratic country where they are free to do whatever they want. They are probably in part owned by the russian state and russia probably needs that business for its own security needs. In short, even if they wanted to they almost certainly can't. Russia would not allow it. American companies are pretty free to operate wherever they want, but imagine if a security company with ties to the American government and access to classified American information tried to leave the usa and go work for china? There's no way that would be allowed.
How? No, actually, how? That's a lot of money plus there not a lot of options anyway. Also press f to Kaspersky, i hope they will clear all the bad reputation (if there any at all) and come back eventually (probably impossible)
That’s a valid question. Some Russian companies, which were selling products and services to Europe, did move since Feb-24-2022. Kaspersky, however, is not a regular business; they are online security firm. They aren’t free to leave Russia. Separate people, like software engineers or higher management, may be able to leave, but as a complete business I don’t think it’s possible.
I wouldn’t be surprised if in the next few months higher management at Kaspersky would change completely (i.e. FSB will replace key people), some of the higher management would go to jail, or Russian government would straight nationalize the company. I don’t think they will, but any of those three are not far fetched in today’s Russia…
A lot of their infrastructure that deals with NATO affiliated countries is already out of Russia. That hasn't really helped it seems.
The cute bear crying makes me sad
This genuinely made me more emotional than most movies could
It's a signature. lol
Cozy Bear - Wikipedia
What happened to Kaspersky?
They got banned in the US for supposedly being Russian spyware, coincidentally they were banned soon after figuring out how to detect a spyware that the US government have publicly stated they own licences for, and was undetectable previously
Actually, if you read the statement from the bureau, they banned it because theoretically, Kaspersky could be used by kremlin to infiltrate US PC’s. They might still fight it in court. It’s not that they have found any cases of this actually happening or even investigated the source code and found any vulnerabilities. Their source code is open to 3rd party testers.
This happened across Europe as well since 2 years ago, no court appeal here, they just lost market share.
But it was only meant for B2B in gov institutions, not B2C as well. Private sector was still allowed to purchase but many dropped their licenses for the same suppositions.. corporate espionage and acces to proprietary data ( at least in Romania ) Italy and Germany addressed both public and private sector.
But in our case ( Romania ) we are at the borders with Ukraine and offered support, because of that many corporate and gov networks were targeted by Russian hackers that openly stated that they are targeting us because of the support offered to the Ukrainians.
Thats sad when i think about it.They can make up whatever and ban companies from countries they dont like.Kaspersky even offered some govrements to let them see their source code.
It wasnt just made up in huwai or kasperksys cases though.
That Russian spyware just protected me last week from someone attacking my network over and over. Kaspersky has never done me wrong.
There is already a New York Times article explaining in depth what happened with Kaspersky. They were caught by Mossad using their security solutions as spyware.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/10/technology/kaspersky-lab-israel-russia-hacking.html
This is kaspersky’s statement in response to these allegations in 2017.
After this they also moved some of their operations to Switzerland and opened transparency centres where the government could review their source codes.
I’m not saying which one is right or wrong here but the purpose of this comment is just to have you / others who read that NY times article read both sides of the story and decide accordingly
Oh the NEW YORK TIMES?? I have to believe that, I mean it has the words New York inside....
Idk if Mossad is a real good source 🥲
i live in the us, kaspersky being banned is the only one that i've heard about that I actually care about
Shouldnt be too sad. They had good software but it doesn't change this.
"Kaspersky Lab has faced controversy over allegations that it has engaged with the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) to use its software to scan computers worldwide for material of interest'
"In October 2017, subsequent reports alleged that hackers working for the Russian government stole confidential data from the home computer of a National Security Agency (NSA) contractor in 2015 via Kaspersky antivirus software"
If the fsb in russia wants them to do something they're going to do it. And unfortunately they're an adversary of the usa and europe right now. They had good software and I'm sure normal folks don't have much to worry about but it's hard to not make this political for obvious reasons. At worst they cooperated with the russian state willingly, at best they're a victim of its actions.
Its allegations, and it doesn't change the fact that any other software company could be in the hands of their local intelligence agency. Its not ok that anyone is spying on us, but people feel way too comfy about being spied from the US, UK and EU inteligence agencies...
I'll believe the us government over what the russians are saying. Literally everything coming out of that country is a lie. Whatever the russians say the opposite is usually true. Of course the usa spies on people too. The difference is the russians do it to harm the usa and they're not exactly a friendly nation
Yes but I'm a citizen of Poland and the United States. If I'm gona pick a side it's going to be the usa one.... there's no world where Russia or china is the lesser of two evils. If ur Russian I can understand having loyalty to russia but if ur a westerner, especially European or american why support a autocratic( basically a dictatorship at this point) country that is actively working against ur best interest.. my home country was under russian rule for 50 years. That is not a country you want to live under. What they're doing to ukraine alone is reason enough to not trust them. Their best argument was 'ukraine wanted to join nato". So what? They're a free country that doesn't give them the right to invade them. Nato is a defensive alliance there's no scenario where nato would preemptively attack russia.... that's getting off topic tho. Point is Kaspersky is compromised due to the location of the company and their governments actions and since its a security software then it should be replaced by a more trustworthy software.
The USA uses the five eyes program of intelligence sharing to indirectly spy on any citizen. Members share intelligence, which can include intelligence on foreign citizens of allied powers. Roundabout way to outsource spying on your citizens.
Every government spies. That is not the point. The difference is russia is trying to use that information to harm the united states. If ur Russian and don't like America then you do not care if u use Kaspersky. You might want to support Kaspersky. But if ur american or european you are the target of russia. Why would you use Kaspersky and support a company that works with a government that wants to harm you and your country. By using Kaspersky as a American your using software that might give your data to an adversary of the country in which you live and if you pay for the service some of the money is going to a oligarch and then it ends up funding a unjustified war that's killing hundreds of thousands of people.
Any business can be privatized by Russia at any time, surely being in this sub you understand what a massively serious security risk that could pose given the current geopolitical climate.. Banning an anti-virus used by maybe 5-10% of the population maximum to ensure Russia has no access to American's data is a pretty easy choice regardless of the Kasperky team's intentions, They live in an autocracy, and they wouldn't be the first company to be seized by Moscow if such a thing were to happen. And something tells me Russian intelligence would love a deep dive on millions of Americans computers, we are after all pretty much engaged in a proxy war with them at the moment. Except they forgot their proxy.
Yup this 100% at worst they actively cooperated willingly with the fsb for ideological reasons.
At best they're a unwilling victim of the russian states actions.
Both mean it's a security risk. Normal folks probably have nothing of value but it's the principle that matters... why use a company and especially why give them money if they're using it to steal from your country and possibly helping fund a war in one way or another.
It's a shame. They had good software but that's the world we're living in...
I hope they stay in Canada for now because I still have plenty of time left (at least more than a year) on my license though I've cancelled subscription for now. Might as well ride it out before needing to panic purchase BitDefender.
Canada might follow too and soon the EU might follow too.
Such a shame but I understand why it happened. I used Kaspersky for many many years and It never let me down. Hoping that ESET gives me the same type peace of mind now. So far so good with it.
I honestly think this is more about sanctions against Russia than it is against Kaspersky in particular.
🥺
Thank you Kaspersky for protecting me at my most dangerous times. I will miss you.
Is there any credibility to the Kaspersky accusations?
None. Even mwb looked into them and found nothing but has mentioned there are multiple other sketchy, well-known AVs. I'm glad I use kaspersky.
The founder and CEO has joined the KGB in his teenage years in apprenticeship, went through higher education in a KGB program, then married another KGB agent at one of their resort.
He worked for years as an intelligence officer for the russian air force, then founded his security company.
More than half the staff at Kaspersky have been recruited from russian intelligence agencies, both military and internal security.
Kaspersky security software have ring access on the devices they're installed on.
Russia is currently at war with Europe and has threatened to use nuclear weapons on NATO.
And they were caught using their software to act as spyware on US citizens.
They're rusian company. So there's zero guarantees that they won't get visited by fsb, forcing them to start collecting your data and do whatever else they could with your pc.
The legal and regulatory environments in which the NSA and FSB operate are vastly different. There are definitely reasons for concern.
Also, nice pivot instead of addressing the claims made in the comment.
It’s not a pivot, it’s a response to a common argument. NSA and FSB are no different in the eyes of their people.
Thinking any of these laws/regulations/rules matter is cute given that we just saw Russia actively commit war crimes and nothing serious happened against them.
If either government wanted your shit, they gonna get your shit, no matter what.
Not really, snowden showed quite clearly that the US does not give a single shit about US citizens privacy after what he leaked. Just look at PRISM.
These leaks have also led to significant legal and policy changes in the US since then, something I can't imagine ever happening in Russia as long as the status quo remains in power.
The US like every other country isn't perfect, but I believe it is far ahead of Russia in terms of transparency and protection of user data.
I think the main concern is that Kaspersky might face a situation similar to what happened to the Russian social media platform VK. It's founder was forced to resign and sell his shares in 2014 under pressure from Russian authorities after he refused to provide user data to the FSB, obviously raising concerns about user privacy and government surveillance. Meanwhile Apple won't assist the FBI in cracking iPhones, without facing repercussions. There's many more examples.
I mean, if I had to choose who gets to steal my data, that's not even a contest.
Edit since comments are locked.
Hmm. Data stolen by unethical scumbags who overreach their authority and occasionally get held responsible for breaking the law or data stolen by state-authorized, dictator supporting, torturing inhuman bastards who are opposed to my way of life and very existence.
Yeah, totally the same thing, who cares right?
That's weird. Wouldn't it make more sense for the government that cannot legally prosecute you to have your data than the one who can? Provided you live outside of Russia of course
So much bickering over privacy when you could just not give a fuck at all, and it will not affect your life in the slightest.
Nice username
Its sad 🙁 I like the antivirus and VPN, not so much password manager. Overall a good product with affordable price. There were allegations about them doing this or that, but in my opinion, after reading this in news and security resources I personally didn’t find enough substance in it. Kaspersky also tried to demonstrate transparency, but this was ignored by Western governments. Regarding the founder being from FSB - there are not many places in Russia where you can get education in the area of cybersecurity. Academy of FSB is one of the most famous ones… and I didn’t hear of other places. I have classmates who work in Kaspersky - they are not from FSB, I also know graduates of FSB academy who work in western companies abroad and there is no problem with that. I see in comments a lot equivalence between a company, government and even the whole Russia and Russians. What can I say?… I personally don’t consider these comments worth responding.
Not a kaspersky user and not 'murican either but that bear
NOT THE BEAR IN THE CORNER NOO DONT CRYY So sad :C
I'm not so sad to lose Kaspersky as I've never used their Product. I am sorry for the hard-working people at Kaspersky whose jobs may be affected by the loss of such a large user base. Good fortune to all of you!
Naaa. I have 2 words for you. Pegasus spyware. And that is just the one they told us about..... u think the nsa can't find a backdoor themselves to some security software? Theres no such thing as a fully secure device. If kaspersky was so secure that the government needed a back door to it then so many criminals would be able to get away with things just because they had access to kaspersky.. even the fbi can get past that software without breaking a sweat. Let alone the cia and nsa....They don't need permission. They can literally turn on ur microphone and camera in ur phone while it is off and has no simcard inserted. They can turn on the microphone while there is no battery in the phone. The software and talent they have doesn't require Kaspersky cooperation.
They were banned for working with the Russian security service and their software was used to steal data from government employees. That combined with sanctions is why they're banned.
Kaspersky Lab has faced controversy over allegations that it has engaged with the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) to use its software to scan computers
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security banned Kaspersky products from all government departments on 13 September 2017, alleging that Kaspersky Lab had worked on secret projects with Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB). In October 2017, subsequent reports alleged that hackers working for the Russian government stole confidential data from the home computer of a National Security Agency (NSA) contractor in 2015 via Kaspersky antivirus software
They can turn on the microphone while there is no battery in the phone.
wait...but how???
No idea dunno if they messed with the phone first and installed something smiling to "the thing". Or if they used some wireless charging technique from a distance. They don't explain it it's just the head if the nsa in the senate hearing saying what they were capable of during the Iraq War.
"The Thing, also known as the Great Seal bug, was one of the first covert listening devices (or "bugs") to use passive techniques to transmit an audio signal. It was concealed inside a gift given by the Soviet Union to W. Averell Harriman, the United States Ambassador to the Soviet Union, on August 4, 1945. Because it was passive, needing electromagnetic energy from an outside source to become energized and active, it is considered a predecessor of radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology.[
The Thing consisted of a tiny capacitive membrane connected to a small quarter-wavelength antenna; it had no power supply or active electronic components."
so is this only for the US then right? my kaspersky free been doing wonders lately lmao, thankfully I dont leave in the US so I can keep it
So, they won't be closing down completely? Only in the US? Thank God.
seems to be like it, I live outside the US and I've gotten nothing like OP
Where have you found is picture?
Kaspersky's US site
🫡🫡🫡
Is anything happening with Kaspersky on regards to users in the UK?
I believe EU countries in NATO might/may join in with the US for the Kaspersky ban.
Russia should try not invading a country. And so on.
tbf the actions of Russia's government is hardly reflective of its citizens
What type of logic is that? Does everyone in the US love Biden?
Lol no. Not even close.
Edit since comments are locked.
Because of all the Russians talking about how much they love Putin. Duh.
exactly so what makes you think everyone loves putin
Edit: keyword "everyone"
If a majority of citizens didn't like their government, they would have a very hard time ruling.
But luckily for Putin, he still has widespread approval in Russia.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/896181/putin-approval-rating-russia/
probably because they were forced to...
What happened?
“Transparent”
so what happens to all the signatures that kaspersky has?
Kaspersky US version will not get any signatures update and support.
If I didn’t back up my data, can I get a copy from you?
Objectively a great product, but when this industry is all about risk management, considering the higher level context of Kaspersky, it only makes sense to eliminate an unnecessary risk. There's a reason why virtually all businesses and enterprises in North America do not use Kaspersky.
What the, kaspersky is leaving?!
Getting banned in the USA because its owned by a Russian company.
I loved it because it was the best at detecting false positives, websites and apps that leaked my data or used it to share them through cookies and it was great detecting actual viruses. I got it on a nice sale, but didn't renew because $80 is ridiculous.
Which one is the best alternative on detecting false positives?
Interesting
I switched to Kaspersky in 2009 before only using it on a bootable drive to scan for and remove malware. I hate this.
That's a huge loss for US consumers imo but what can you do...
Is the goodbye letter for all US citizens who used Kaspersky? Or also for those who live outside of US
This also affects other markets like LATAM or this affects only on the US?
I'm sure the Russian athletes in the Olympics were also caught spying on US hillbillies
Detecting Pegasus
Due to the covert nature of its installation, Pegasus was previously only able to be detected via digital forensics. On January 16th, 2024 Kaspersky Labs announced in a press release a new method of detecting the spyware for iOS devices that involved inspecting the shutdown.log file, which logs reboot events, for indicators of compromise.[45] Kaspersky developed a tool that extracts, analyzes, and parses the shutdown.log file to ease the process of locating the malicious signature. This method is only effective if the device is rebooted on the same day that it is infected with Pegasus.
Source: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pegasus_(spyware)
Hmm, I wonder if this had anything to do with it?
Nothing to do with “but hurt” it literally sends documents home to Russia
Bye 😒
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