The rise and fall of Kaspersky?

weren't you the number one Kaspersky supporter before? remember when I logged into your laptop and saw you using that heavy AV?

 

Never buy any Kaspersky product. 3 re-activations and bam! you're key is blacklisted and good luck getting it unlocked again with their appalling customer service who will take weeks to reply and ask you for receipts, proofs, screenshots, then wait more, and more, until you either get infected as the product isn't updating or get fed up! I'd love to see that company shut down completely!

 

Kaspersky ain't a heavy AV. In fact one of the best. But yees I haven't it on my machine anymore. And what will kaspersky find on MY PC if I used it? (Not M$'s PC ) It's ****y everywhere now!! At least... I don't use FB and similar

 

Wild, this is a "Sponsored" Article on Reuters, I assume sponsored by Kaspersky or someone for Kaspersky:

Kaspersky Lab asks court to overturn U.S. government software ban
Dustin Volz, Jim Finkle
#CYBER RISK DECEMBER 18, 2017 / 10:25 AM / UPDATED 5 HOURS AGO
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...urn-u-s-government-software-ban-idUSKBN1EC2CK

"SPONSORED" <== Nowhere does it list (that I can find) who sponsored the Ad/Article

"WASHINGTON/TORONTO (Reuters) - Moscow-based security software maker Kaspersky Lab said on Monday it has asked a U.S. federal court to overturn a Trump administration ban on use of its products in government networks, saying the move deprived the company of due process.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in September issued a directive ordering civilian government agencies to remove Kaspersky software from their networks within 90 days. It came amid mounting concern among U.S. officials that the software could enable Russian espionage and threaten national security.

The appeal is part of an ongoing campaign by Kaspersky to refute allegations the company is vulnerable to Kremlin influence. The company has repeatedly denied it has ties to any government and said it would not help a government with cyber espionage.

“DHS has harmed Kaspersky Lab’s reputation and its commercial operations without any evidence of wrongdoing by the company,” the company’s founder, Eugene Kaspersky, said in an open letter to the Homeland Security agency published on Monday.

The department did not respond to requests for comment.

The lawsuit alleges that the government largely relied on uncorroborated news media reports as evidence in a review of Kaspersky software. It asks the court to overturn the ban and also declare that the Russian company’s products do not pose a security threat to U.S. government computers.

The value of Kaspersky’s software sales to the U.S. government totaled less than $54,000, or about 0.03 percent of its U.S. subsidiary’s sales in the United States, according to the complaint.

Still, the allegations about the software have hurt its much bigger consumer software business, prompting retailers such as Best Buy Co to pull Kaspersky products.

Kaspersky said in October that it would submit the source code of its software and future updates for inspection by independent parties. U.S. officials have said that step, while welcome, would not be sufficient.

The September DHS order applied only to civilian government agencies and not the Pentagon. U.S. intelligence agencies said earlier this year that Kaspersky products were already generally not allowed on military networks."

 

Kaspersky: Software now banned in Lithuania

The ban on software from the Russian company Kaspersky, which has now been issued in Lithuania, goes even further than the prohibition in the US , which became law in mid-December . In Lithuania, not only government agencies are affected, but also private companies . Who will be next on the list?

 

Yeah now they will rename it to something else and continue with their business. Problem solved.

 

Honestly, i don't think Kaspersky will fall, sure they will lost contracts, resellers and customers; so a non-negligible amount of money but not enough to make them disappear. They are a giant in the security industry, and giants always return after a setback.

 

Facebook Tells Congress Kaspersky Cut from Anti-Virus Choices for Users
Facebook: Russian agents created 129 U.S. election events
Dustin Volz, David Ingram, JANUARY 25, 2018 / 10:55 PM
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...om-anti-virus-choices-for-users-idUSKBN1FE37M

"...Also in its written response to follow up questions, Facebook said that last year it removed Moscow-based Kaspersky Lab from its list of free anti-virus offerings to users who go to the social media site from a computer that may be infected with malicious code.

Facebook said it no longer provided Kaspersky Lab as a recommended anti-virus option but that it was “unable to easily reconstruct how many Facebook users downloaded Kaspersky software.”

"Facebook Inc said Russian agents created 129 events on the social media network during the 2016 U.S. election campaign, according to testimony to Congress, shedding more light on Russia’s purported disinformation drive aimed at voters.

Facebook, in a written statement to U.S. lawmakers released on Thursday and dated Jan. 8, said that 338,300 different Facebook accounts viewed the events and that 62,500 marked that they would attend. The company said it did not have data about which of the events took place.

Facebook, the world’s largest social media network, said in September only that Russians had created “several promoted events.”"

 

US Considers Extending Kaspersky Ban to Huawei – Also Limits China from Acquiring Sensitive Technology
The US administration is considering to extend its ban on Kaspersky Lab to Chinese companies, as well. In the case of Kaspersky, the government had suggested that the Russian intelligence agencies were using the its software to target US officials. Companies based in China may face a similar but wider ban.

What appears to be a bipartisan effort, the US Congress is considering to draft laws that would ban the American government from using equipment made by the Chinese manufacturers. The targets include ZTE, Huawei, Datang, and Zhongxing. The country has also already banned DJI products. Earlier this year Huawei faced a major blowback when AT&T pulled out of a deal to sell the company’s phones in the US, at the behest of the US government.

Similar to Kaspersky, no information or evidence has been shared that can support these fears. In case of Kaspersky, there was at least a report (published by researchers and verified by the company itself) that it had copied files from a government contractor believing that it was malware – it had turned out to be classified material. However, in case of Huawei, so far the authorities haven’t shared any evidence that could back this claim of Huawei being an arm of the Chinese government.

 

Hua-no-wei! NSA, FBI, CIA bosses put Chinese mobe makers on blast
No probs, says Huawei: It's a big world, we don't need America
By Iain Thomson in San Francisco 14 Feb 2018 at 22:14

"Don't trust the Chinese – that seemed to be the theme at Tuesday's open US Senate Intelligence Committee hearings on Capitol Hill.

The directors of the NSA, CIA, FBI, National Intelligence, Defense Intelligence Agency and National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency were asked if they would personally use a smartphone from Huawei or ZTE. None raised their hands.

"We're deeply concerned about the risks of allowing any company or entity that is beholden to foreign governments that don't share our values to gain positions of power inside our telecommunications networks," said FBI Director Chris Wray.

"That provides the capacity to exert pressure or control over our telecommunications infrastructure. It provides the capacity to maliciously modify or steal information. And it provides the capacity to conduct undetected espionage."

Spoiler

The condemnations came the day after Huawei's global government affairs VP Simon Lacey told an Australian parliamentary committee that allegations of Huawei using its kit to spy on other governments was "used as a blank cheque to justify or disguise protectionism."

There have been mutterings about Huawei and ZTE in the US congress for years. Back in 2012 Congress produced a report suggesting that the Chinese manufacturer's kit could be a security risk, albeit with no supporting evidence and suggestions of bias, and this led to a ban on Huawei's networking gear in US government systems.

Then earlier this month Senators Tom Cotton (R-AR) and "Little" Marco Rubio (R-FL) introduced a bill to the Senate banning Huawei and ZTE from selling or leasing kit to the US government. It mirrored a similar bill introduced to the House of Representatives in January.

"Huawei is effectively an arm of the Chinese government, and it's more than capable of stealing information from US officials by hacking its devices," said Cotton. "There are plenty of other companies that can meet our technology needs, and we shouldn't make it any easier for China to spy on us."

Russian
We've seen this kind of activity before, although with Russian security firm Kaspersky coming under a similar ban over never-proven claims. Now the Chinese are under the cosh, but Huawei doesn't seem to be too concerned.

"Huawei is aware of a range of US government activities seemingly aimed at inhibiting Huawei's business in the US market," the world's number two smartphone maker told The Register.

"Huawei is trusted by governments and customers in 170 countries worldwide and poses no greater cybersecurity risk than any ICT vendor, sharing as we do common global supply chains and production capabilities. Ultimately, Huawei will continue to develop its global business through a significant commitment to innovation and R&D and to delivering technology that helps our customers succeed in all markets that value the innovation and value it delivers.""

 

Roses are red, Kaspersky is blue: 'That ban's unconstitutional!' Boo hoo hoo
New front opens in Russian firm's legal fight with US gov
By Gareth Corfield 14 Feb 2018 at 14:05

"Kaspersky Lab, the antivirus house, now claims that the US government's ban on its products amounts to punishment without trial.

Spoiler

In court filings made late last year Kaspersky said it was intending to use the US Administrative Procedure Act to get the ban declared unconstitutional. Now, according to local reports, the Russian company is bringing the US Constitution's Bill of Attainder clause, which forbids punishment without trial, into play to bolster its legal arguments.

The American Department of Homeland Security (DHS) banned the use of Kaspersky products in September 2017 across the entire US government.

Controversy had arisen in American governmental circles that a National Security Agency contractor (NSA – a snooping agency like Britain's GCHQ but better scrutinised) who took his work home with him had leaked software exploits intended to be used for hacking by US government agents thanks to an unintentional upload to the Kaspersky cloud. The Americans convinced themselves that Russian-owned Kaspersky had given access to these exploits to Kremlin intelligence services, though the company denies this.

Not long after the ban, GCHQ in the UK issued a similar order to government departments over here for information classified as Secret or above.

Kaspersky's PR firm told The Register today: "Kaspersky Lab maintains that the DHS decision is unconstitutional and relied on subjective, non-technical public sources, such as uncorroborated and often anonymously sourced media reports, related claims, and rumors. Furthermore, DHS has failed to provide the company adequate due process to rebut the unsubstantiated allegations underlying the BOD and has not provided any evidence of wrongdoing by the company."

America is becoming increasingly allergic to foreign tech companies' wares, on the grounds that what its spies euphemistically call "computer network exploitation" might come home to roost.

 

US officials: Kaspersky “Slingshot” report burned anti-terror operation
Joint Special Operations Command ran campaign against ISIS, Al Qaeda for at least 6 years.
SEAN GALLAGHER - 3/21/2018, 9:22 AM
https://arstechnica.com/information...ort-apparently-exposed-us-military-cyber-ops/

"A malware campaign discovered by researchers for Kaspersky Lab this month was in fact a US military operation, according to a report by CyberScoop's Chris Bing and Patrick Howell O'Neill. Unnamed US intelligence officials told CyberScoop that Kaspersky's report had exposed a long-running Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) operation targeting the Islamic State and Al Qaeda.

The malware used in the campaign, according to the officials, was used to target computers in Internet cafés where it was believed individuals associated with the Islamic State and Al Qaeda would communicate with their organizations' leadership. Kaspersky's report showed Slingshot had targeted computers in countries where ISIS, Al Qaeda, and other radical Islamic terrorist groups have a presence or recruit: Afghanistan, Yemen, Iraq, Jordan, Turkey, Libya, Sudan, Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The publication of the report, the officials contended, likely caused JSOC to abandon the operation and may have put the lives of soldiers fighting ISIS and Al Qaeda in danger. One former intelligence official told CyberScoop that it was standard operating procedure "to kill it all with fire once you get caught... It happens sometimes and we’re accustomed to dealing with it. But it still sucks. I can tell you this didn’t help anyone."

JSOC is part of the US Special Operations Command (SOCOM) and has in the past incorporated electronic warfare and signals intelligence units in its operations as part of its "special reconnaissance" mission. US Navy SEALs, Army Special Forces and Rangers, and other special operations units have worked in tandem in the past; a JSOC unit called the Computer Network Operations Squadron (CNOS) was formed in 2007, prior to the formation of US Cyber Command. CNOS operated from Fort Meade (where US Cyber Command and the National Security Agency are headquartered) and at CIA's headquarters in Langley, Virginia.

In his 2015 book Relentless Strike: The Secret History of Joint Special Operations Command, Army Times journalist Sean Naylor described one example of how special operations teams used malware in Iraq, using "Mohawks"—Iraqis recruited by US Special Forces to serve as a counter-intelligence team—to install spyware onto targeted computers:

Mohawks would enter the Internet café without arousing suspicion and upload software onto the computers. Sometimes the software was of the keystroke recognition type, at other times it would covertly activate a webcam if the computer had one, allowing the task force to positively identify a target... The insurgents often thought they were exercising good communications security by sharing one account with a single password and writing messages to each other that they saved as drafts rather than sending... But the keystroke tracking software meant JSOC personnel in the United States were reading every word.

Kaspersky's exposure of the program will likely not win the company any points in its battle to get off a US federal government blacklist."

 

So ... basically, they're just terribly good at doing what an anti-virus is supposed to be doing; detecting malicious software.

That it happened to have been used for not-so-malicious purposes wasn't something that Kaspersky could've known. It wouldn't be like there was a message in the comments section of the code that said something like ' Hey, we're doing this for the benefit of mankind, please don't report this particular piece of malware'.

Don't have a MikroTik router or ever connect to one and already run Kaspersky, but otherwise I'd be sure to install it:

Now that the word is out it won't be long before greadier actors get their hands on the code and will modify it for their own purposes. Their intended target list will of course be a bit broader in scope than just a few suspected terrorists.

 

Twitter Bans Russian Security Firm Kaspersky from Advertising on the Platform


Yet again, the screw will be tightened around.

Twitter has banned Kaspersky, a Russian cybersecurity firm that often finds itself in the middle of the US-Russia cyber cold war, from advertising on the platform. The company suggests that Kaspersky’s business practice “inherently conflicts” with the platform’s advertising policies.

The decision to ban the cybersecurity firm “is based on our determination that Kaspersky Lab operates using a business model that inherently conflicts with acceptable Twitter Ads business practices,” Twitter said in its statement referring to a Department of Homeland Security notice on Kaspersky Lab that talked about the ties between Kaspersky officials and Russian intelligence agencies. “Kaspersky Lab may remain an organic user on our platform, in accordance with the Twitter Rules.”

 

Kaspersky Lab loses the privilege of giving Twitter ad money
Twitter's loss is the EFF's gain
By Shaun Nichols in San Francisco 20 Apr 2018 at 22:06
https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/04/20/kaspersky_lab_loses_the_privilege_of_giving_twitter_money/

"Twitter says it will no longer run ads from beleaguered security vendor Kaspersky Lab.

Claiming the company's alleged dealings with the Russian government violates its ad policies, the 280-character shoutfest site says Kaspersky's advertising money is no longer good, but it can still post regular (unpaid) Tweets.

"This decision is based on our determination that Kaspersky Lab operates using a business model that inherently conflicts with acceptable Twitter Ads business practices," a Twitter spokesperson told El Reg

"Kaspersky Lab may remain an organic user on our platform, in accordance with the Twitter Rules."

While Twitter did not say specifically what Kaspersky did to run afoul of its policies, the site did note last year's DHS notice expressing fear Kaspersky was sharing information collected from its customers with Russian intelligence agencies. Kaspersky has denied the claim and no proof has been offered.

A spokesperson for Kaspersky said Twitter first told the company of its decision in January, but to this day has yet to fully explain what specifically Kaspersky did to violate its advertising rules.

"Kaspersky Lab considers this action – an advertising ban without any valid reasoning or evidence of misconduct– as being contradictory to Twitter’s principles for freedom of expression," Kaspersky Lab's statement reads.

"Therefore, the company is calling on Twitter to provide a more specific and detailed explanation of its decision."

In the meantime, Kaspersky says it will be making the best of the situation by converting its Twitter advertising budget to a charitable donation to the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF).

CEO and founder Eugene Kaspersky has also issued an open letter to Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey blasting the move and claiming the policy will put Twitter users at risk.

"The majority of our promoted content on Twitter has been about cybersafety and research and reports about the information security industry. We believe that this content brings value to a variety of Twitter users, including regular folks who want to read simple tips on how to protect themselves and their families against cyberthreats as well as infosecurity experts who are interested in the technical details of our latest research," Kaspersky writes.

"Twitter is playing into the hands of cybercriminals when it hinders us providing users, for example, with timely, potentially important information on protection from cyber-extortionists." "

 

Kaspersky: data storage and development soon in Switzerland, ban in the Netherlands
In the future, the Dutch government will no longer use software from the security company Kaspersky Lab. At the same time, the company has announced that it will store customer data in Switzerland in the future.

Kaspersky has been facing allegations of having to cooperate with Russian intelligence for months, leading to bans on using the software in the US. Now, according to media reports, the Dutch government. Thus, by using the software, Justice Minister Ferdinand Grapperhaus was under threat of espionage and sabotage.

The measure is not substantiated by specific incidents, but by the Russian legislation, according to which Kaspersky would be obliged to cooperate with Russian intelligence services.

At the same time, Kaspersky Lab has announced that it will build a data center in Switzerland in which user data will be stored in the future. In addition, production will be relocated to Switzerland later this year.

Sources)
www.kaspersky.com/blog/swiss-assembled-security/22378/

www.spiegel.de/netzwelt/netzpolitik/kaspersky-lab-kuenftig-nicht-mehr-auf-niederlaendischen-behoerdenrechnern-erlaubt-a-1207827.html

 

The main issue is that the data leaks are supposedly on the government level, not at the user level, still... |

I don't think they have what to take from the Romanian government lol.

 

Judge dismisses Kaspersky lawsuits about US government software ban

Kaspersky has had something of a tough time of it over the last year, first being hit by a ban on its software being used by the US government, and then a ban on advertising on Twitter. The Russian company sued the Trump administration over the software ban, and a judge has now dismissed the suits.

Kaspersky Lab had been looking to overturn the governmental ban, saying "we've done nothing wrong" in response to claims that the company is linked to the Russian government. The firm says it plans to appeal against the latest ruling.

 

Kaspersky suits tossed, fed bans will continue
Joe Uchill May 30
https://www.axios.com/kaspersky-suit-tossed-fed-1527704297-02e8259b-3b81-43c5-9ce4-86a65db63ad0.html

"A Washington D.C. court has dismissed Kaspersky Lab's lawsuits against the U.S. government over two different rules banning Kaspersky products from federal systems.

The background: Both a federal law passed as part of last years National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA,) and a binding operational directive (BOD) issued by the Department of Homeland Security, prohibit federal agencies from using Kaspersky products. Both portrayed Kaspersky, a Moscow based company, as a national security risk.

The details:

• Kaspersky sued to prevent the two rules from coming into place, claiming the NDAA was a form of unlawful punishment against a specific company known as a bill of attainder. The judge reasoned that "The NDAA does not inflict 'punishment' on Kaspersky Lab. It eliminates a perceived risk to the Nation’s cybersecurity and, in so doing, has the secondary effect of foreclosing one small source of revenue for a large multinational corporation."
• Because the NDAA ruling remains in effect, the judge ruled the BOD case was more or less a moot point. No matter what the ruling in that case, the NDAA would continue to block federal agencies from using Kaspersky products.

The perceived threat: Lawmakers and DHS have publicly said the national security threat from Kaspersky products stems from Russian law. Antivirus programs and other security programs often upload files to a security firm's server in the course of analyzing them for threats. By law, Kaspersky would have to honor Russian official requests for the data.

• Media reports suggest there may be a more specific espionage threat. The New York Times and Wall Street Journal reported Russian spies used Kaspersky Lab products to search for classified files on U.S. systems that had Kaspersky installed.
• Kaspersky has denied any fealty to the Russian government or willing involvement in an espionage scheme and moved its data centers to Switzerland in order to boost public trust."

 

Europe Considers Following Trump’s Example of Banning Moscow-Based Kaspersky
There may not be any conclusive evidence available for the public, but the governments continue to consider putting a ban on the use of Russia based Kaspersky products. The popular antivirus maker recently announced shifting some of its core functions and data storage programs to Switzerland under its new transparency program. However, if the latest EU policy vote is any indication, this hasn’t worked out for the cybersecurity company.

According to local reports, the European Parliament (MEPs) in Strasbourg, France will decide on various cybersecurity regulations, including a vote on a potential ban of the use of malicious software. This isn’t going to be a law as it’s more of a policy document, but the document does mention that it will consider all malicious programs “that have been confirmed as malicious, such as Kaspersky Lab.”

 

The stone continue rolling....
Kaspersky no longer works with EU after the parliamentary decision-Notebookcheck.com
Software developer Kaspersky Lab ends its cooperation with European institutions after the European Parliament passed a non-binding resolution. The resolution describes the programs of the company as malicious.

---------------------------------------------------

https://www.kaspersky.com/about/press-releases/2018_kaspersky-lab-response-to-eu-parliament-vote

 

On Kaspersky’s 'transparency tour' the truth was clear as mud
'America wants to destroy us for defusing its cyber weapons, but we're clean' is the story
By Simon Sharwood, APAC Editor 26 Jun 2018 at 07:32
https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/06/26/kaspersky_transparency_tour/

"Kaspersky Labs is on a "Transparency Tour" in which the company attempts to persuade us all that it is not a danger to anyone except cyber-criminals and will soon open a "transparency lab" to prove it.

The company sent some heavy-hitters to Sydney, Australia, to make those points today: veep for public affairs Anton Shingarev and managing director for Asia Pacific Stephan Neumeier sat down with the media over sandwiches and salads to make their pitch.

The gist of the company's argument is that it is completely innocent, makes great products, is shocked – shocked! – by the allegations made against it and believes its troubles stem from being made pawn in a game of geopolitical chess.

That happened because so many of its developers reside in Russia, which makes it easy to smear the company.

"This backfires us," Shingarev said, but added that the company doesn't want to move its developers because they're good at what they do. And cheap, too, compared to coders in other climes.

Shingarev and Neumeier then advanced a theory that during their fearless mission to hunt down malware regardless of its source, Kaspersky researchers discovered, defused and exposed cyber weapons developed by several nation states. State actors build such weapons using arms-length deals with contractors, they alleged, so getting grumpy with Kaspersky in public was not an option.

But the US was angry at having its efforts stymied, so retaliated by smearing Kaspersky. Hence the ban on sales of the company's products to US government agencies justified by allegations that Kaspersky poses a national security risk.

That risk, the pair added, has been downgraded: when the ban was first imposed the pair said the company was identified as a real and present danger. These days they said a mere "potential" threat is used as justification for the ban and the change in language tells you all you need to know about its sincerity.

Pressed by The Register, neither exec had evidence to support the theory. But they pointed out that we all know about tensions between the US and Russia, we can all see there's a trade war going on, Kaspersky sales are growing in the rest of the world and it's therefore obvious the company copped some blowback in a game bigger than any of us can really comprehend.

Neumeier also said the fact that only the US has taken action against Kaspersky proves the geopolitical skulduggery theory.

At which point The Register pointed out the 28 nations of the European Union last week passed a non-binding motion that said Kaspersky products have been " confirmed as malicious".

Neumeier's response was to say that Kaspersky Lab had been aware of that wording for months, and also aware of Polish Euro-MP Anna Elżbieta Fotyga's belief that the company represents a danger. Neumeier said Fotyga was responsible for the wording in the motion and that other MPs only included it under sufferance. Fotyga, he added, ignored two requests for meetings with Kaspersky at which the company hoped to explain itself. The head of a committee she sits on went one better and ignored three offers to meet.

Neumeier therefore felt that last week's motion was made without Kaspersky having fair opportunity to explain itself. Throw in the fact that Fotyga's first question relied on accounts of the US's unfair actions and Kaspersky thinks it's again been given the rough end of the pineapple.

Time for transparency
Despite being the victim of geopolitical forces no company could hope to control, Kaspersky thinks it can silence the doubters by being more transparent.

Hence its plan to move its data storage to Switzerland – yes, that Switzerland, the one with fabulous secrecy laws. Shingarev and Neumeier said those laws are a good thing for the company's customers, as it will keep their data away from prying eyes. If it had any data worth having anyway, which the pair said Kaspersky doesn't because it just needs basic details to go about its business.

Zurich will also house a "Transparency Lab" where the pair said the world will be able to come in and see... something.

Shingarev said the lab will see one of the big four consultancies review the company's source code and verify that it is indeed compiled into the company's products. He also mentioned a regime that will allow inspection of product updates to defend against allegations that a routine virus signature update can turn Kaspersky's products into something nasty for a few hours.

The company is also promising source code reviews for customers and/or maybe also by a consortium of universities whose collective eyeballing will make it possible to get through all three million lines of code.

There's also a plan to have a verification organisation examine Kaspersky's development processes to certify nothing naughty takes place. Shingarev said we'll all be very impressed once we learn the identity of that organisation, which is already in talks with Kaspersky to define the role.

Shingarev said he hopes the Transparency Lab will be up and running by the end of 2018, but that it's a lot of work so maybe it'll be hard to hit the deadline. Nor could he guarantee when the transparency activities will commence.

Asked by The Register what a visitor to the lab will be able to see, he mentioned the university source code review and nothing more specific.

Whatever goes on in the lab, Shingarev said Kaspersky plans another two: one in Asia, one in North America.

Neumeier added that it won't be long before Kaspersky is recognised as an Uber-style disruptor for having the foresight to operate such a lab.

Sinned against or sinner?
Shingarev and Neumeier remained plausibly sincere, upbeat and earnest during a 90-minute question-and-answer session, never wavering from their assertions of complete innocence and victimhood.

So is the company a sinner, or sinned against?

The "America wants to destroy us" argument was delivered with broad brush strokes, but zero evidence. The Transparency Lab was touted as offering incontrovertible proof of Kaspersky's innocence, but with few details on how it might be made apparent or when it will operate at maximum transparency.

And left entirely un-discussed was the issue that a technology company with ties to a state doesn't need to have leaky products to represent a threat: a company's people can conduct espionage that software cannot, while a network of innocent and ignorant partners can be made vectors for subtle attacks or intelligence-gathering efforts.

For what it's worth, I came away feeling that Kaspersky Labs doth protest too much. But what it's hiding I have no idea."

Comments

 

The irony....
Kaspersky blew whistle on NSA hacking tool hoarder

 

Yeah, damn nice. Great that things like this come up in the light.

Kaspersky AV injected unique ID that allowed sites to track users, even in incognito mode
Feature Kaspersky added in 2015 also made it possible to be ID'd across different browsers arstechnica.com | 8/16/2019

Antivirus software is something that can help people be safer and more private on the Internet. But its protections can cut both ways. A case in point: for almost four years, AV products from Kaspersky Lab injected a unique identifier into the HTML of every website a user visited, making it possible for sites to identify people even when using incognito mode or when they switched between Chrome, Firefox, or Edge...

 

kaspersky does mention it in Learn More section and stresses that it will slow down system if its low end because Kaspersky interacts with website w/o user knowledge to protect from malwares or ransomwares.
So, it was disabled on my sister's GP laptop.
EDIT: Typo fixed...

 

Kaspersky speaks on US government ban and a closed Russian internet zdnet.com | Mar 16, 2020

As Eugene Kaspersky saw his chance to celebrate a decade of sponsoring the Ferrari Scuderia F1 team evaporate when the Melbourne Grand Prix was cancelled, ZDNet asked about why he was singled out by the US government, parallels with the Huawei ban, and a Russian internet.

In 2016, Kasperky's annual revenue was over $640 million. But that was all put at risk when the US government banned the use of the company's security software. According to Eugene Kaspersky, the reality was that the US government's business was insignificant and there was no foundation for the accusations made against the company.

Kaspersky describing the time as a "****storm".

"So it's made of the fake data. So it's not truth after two years. After two years, no proofs, no data at all," the eponymous CEO said.

At the time of the ban, his company transacted just $50,000 with the US government -- a figure he called "nothing", noting that the congressional hearings into the ban had cost the US government far more than the revenue he lost -- at least initially.