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Kaspersky Lab's tussle with the US government could have ramifications for its dealings with the private sector. A new report claims the FBI has been meeting with companies to warn them of the threat posed by the cybersecurity firm. The briefings are the latest chapter in an ongoing saga concerning the use of Kaspersky's products by government agencies. Officials claim the company is a Russian stooge that can't be trusted with protecting America's critical infrastructure. The company denies these claims -- its CEO Eugene Kaspersky has even offered up its source code in a bid to clear his firm's name.
It appears that olive branch went unnoticed. Throughout the year, the FBI has been meeting with US firms to convince them to remove Kaspersky Lab's tools from their systems, according to officials that spoke to CyberScoop. In view of the cyberattacks that crippled Ukraine's power grid in 2016, the FBI has reportedly focussed its briefings on companies in the energy sector. Although, it has also supposedly met with major tech firms too.
The law enforcement agency has apparently been sharing its threat assessment with the companies, including Kaspersky Lab's alleged deep ties with Russian intelligence. However, the meetings have reportedly yielded mixed results. Whereas firms in the energy sector have been quick to cooperate, tech giants have resisted taking swift action, claims CyberScoop.
Source: EnGadget
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Monday August 21 2017, @11:16PM (1 child)
What the FBI is saying is, security companies located outside the US aren't subject to the same pressures and coercion that security companies inside the US are. In this case, BUY AMERICAN!! Makes sense to me!!
(Score: 3, Funny) by Osamabobama on Monday August 21 2017, @11:24PM
Normally, the marketing plan is rolled out ahead of the product. In this case, though, it seems that NSA got it backward, releasing their service years before the marketing was ready. I blame it on interagency synchronization difficulties.
Appended to the end of comments you post. Max: 120 chars.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 22 2017, @12:21AM
can't touch this
gonna keep usin it my brother. gonna keep usin it.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Snotnose on Tuesday August 22 2017, @12:23AM (1 child)
I interpret this as "we refuse to install the backdoors the FBI requires', so the fibbies say "don't use Kaspersky.
It's sad when you trust a foreign company (Russian for bonus points) more than your own TLA.
When the dust settled America realized it was saved by a porn star.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 22 2017, @06:46AM
Exactly what I was thinking.
The fact is Kaspersky was willing to offer up their source code for evaluation, and the apparent grievance from our intelligence agencies is they, a Russian digital security company, offered digital security solutions for the Russian government. That's about as grievous an allegation as Starbucks offering a 'coffee solution' for the CIA, which by the way is not a joke. [independent.co.uk] And Kaspersky is currently outperforming [av-test.org] literally every single other antivirus in every department, including the avoidance of false positives. There's a reason people that are tech oriented aren't racing to follow the FBI's... advice.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 22 2017, @12:39AM
So, when will we have a don't use Windows, Facebook, etc... (PRISM companies) by everyone else?
(Score: 2) by krishnoid on Tuesday August 22 2017, @12:47AM
Company. Right.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by SanityCheck on Tuesday August 22 2017, @01:06AM (2 children)
"It's obvious Russian government has a back-door in these products. Because if they were American products, we would have back-doors in them!"
(Score: 2) by etherscythe on Tuesday August 22 2017, @03:49PM (1 child)
The point, I suspect, is actually to apply economic pressure without an official sanction. "Don't buy Russian - you're supporting the enemy." Appeal to nationalist/bogeyman logic.
"Fake News: anything reported outside of my own personally chosen echo chamber"
(Score: 2) by SanityCheck on Tuesday August 22 2017, @11:19PM
I think I rather let the Russians search through my dirty laundry than the FBI. Besides, I rather enjoyed the job they did with the election.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 22 2017, @01:11AM (1 child)
If malware comes from the Russian "Business" Network then Kaspersky won't detect it.
I got this from someone in a position to know all the details. That's why I'm posting anonymously.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 22 2017, @01:26AM
so cycle between antimalware programs from as many countries as possible. in this way you could possibly stumble upon state sponsored malware from different countries.
some of the "false positives" aren't!
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Tuesday August 22 2017, @03:38AM (2 children)
Time to switch to Linux or BSD or OpenSolaris/Indiana/Whateveritisnow. Are they flawless? No, of course not, I'm sure there are backdoors in there too. But there is something to be said for minimizing your attack surface. If you must use Windows for something--for me it's a MIDI sequence--run it virtualized. And yes, I know there are theoretical hypervisor escapes.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 4, Insightful) by https on Tuesday August 22 2017, @03:48AM (1 child)
The time to switch was more than a decade ago.
Offended and laughing about it.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Gaaark on Tuesday August 22 2017, @12:49PM
Yup!
"Officials claim the company is a Russian stooge that can't be trusted with protecting America's critical infrastructure”
I read it as "Officials claim Microsoft is an American stooge that can't be trusted with protecting America's (or anyone's) critical infrastructure"
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 2) by Rivenaleem on Tuesday August 22 2017, @04:39PM (1 child)
If you found an exploit like this, would you report it? I've seen enough articles of people who report flaws being charged with hacking to put me off reporting something like this if I came across it.
(Score: 2) by chromas on Tuesday August 22 2017, @10:37PM
Do it anonymously. Behind seven proxies. And go through Tor twice.