Serious Discussion No More Kaspersky in US !!!

[oldschool]

I wrap my tinfoil hat with a layer of tinfoil.

 

[kailyn]

Well damn, I will eat my words. Honestly, I can't believe it. I have seen some things that really make me scratch my head living in TX but, Texas actually did something against Russia and China? Well I be darn.

Amanda Crawford is the Director of the Texas Department of Information Services. She makes all the ban decisions for the state of Texas. Attached are official infos about her.

Is she Democrat, Republican, ANTIFA, Anarchist, MAGA, Boogaloo, socialist, capitalist, communist, xenophobe, radical activist, gimme my transition hormones or else ... or just a professional trying to do what is in the best interests of the citizens of Texas?

 

[kailyn]

Who knows if it's true or not. Personally, if I want to find any spyware on my system that has been planted by the US intel agency then I will use Kaspersky

That is part of the problem. Kaspersky is aggressive and eager to report US, UK, Israeli, French and other intelligence or military software. They report on it all the time. But when it comes to Russian spyware it is virtually silent.

Whether Kaspersky has been forced not to report by the Russian government or voluntarily chooses not to report on software associated with Russian defense or intelligence agencies is irrelevant. Compelled by law, fear, duress, or voluntarily - it clearly shows that Kaspersky, when it comes down to it, is aligned with the Russian security services.

Kaspersky has openly admitted many, many times that file uploads from user systems to its servers is a primary function of their products. Now, nobody in their right mind is going to use Kaspersky on a system with sensitive, controlled unclassified, or classified data.

 

[Sandbox Breaker - DFIR]

Awe man just posted this in the security news section. Its actually very interesting of a conversation. Kaspersky even moved to Switzerland a few years back and let's many govt's audit their code. Let's see what transpires from this shock wave.

 

[cartaphilus]

Awe man just posted this in the security news section. Its actually very interesting of a conversation. Kaspersky even moved to Switzerland a few years back and let's many govt's audit their code. Let's see what transpires from this shock wave.

I think it's the mere fact that Kaspersky shares what files are on the PC with the KSN, that got it Das Boot. Of course many other vendors have similar tech but then again those vendors are not in a spy vs spy game with the USA. Same reason why US is banning the Chinese disease known as Tick Tock.

So no amount of code auditing will fix the fact that file names/types/hashes/what have you, are being shared with the big Bear Brotha.

 

[fabiobr]

The US and European governments have intelligence regarding Kaspersky that they are not sharing openly. Nations that enact such restrictions do not do it lightly. It's not just about politics. When import or product bans are made, there are rather large economic consequences which translates into a lot of their own citizens\people losing their jobs. A ban of Kaspersky in the US will result in thousands losing their jobs and that has a negative economic impact that ripples throughout an industry. The US and other governments are not taking actions against Russian, Chinese, and other companies based in different countries on a whim.

I got to agree with you, unfortunately

There Kaspersky offices in US too.

 

[cofer123]

 

[fabiobr]

whim

It is supposed to be a complete ban of not just sales but also usage.

How it will be implemented and tracked is not yet determined. More importantly, how the US government will police it and punish those that violate the federal rule(s) also remains to be seen. The US agency that is designated oversight for the rule(s) will largely determine how things shall be done. For example the Federal Trade Commission, the Department of State, and the Department of Commerce all do things differently.

Should the ban designate certain actions - such as ignoring or circumventing the ban - as criminal actions then users and companies will get visits from law enforcement. Theoretically, the revealing of secrets because you are running banned Kaspersky that grabbed files from your system - you could be charged under National Security laws. Then nobody can help you.

What I am guessing is that the US and other nations will use their ability to lock, seize, block or otherwise impede banking\payment platforms\money flows for Kaspersky until it voluntarily just stops selling or making Kaspersky products available in the US or elsewhere.

The US and European governments have intelligence regarding Kaspersky that they are not sharing openly. Nations that enact such restrictions do not do it lightly. It's not just about politics. When import or product bans are made, there are rather large economic consequences which translates into a lot of their own citizens\people losing their jobs. A ban of Kaspersky in the US will result in thousands losing their jobs and that has a negative economic impact that ripples throughout an industry. The US and other governments are not taking actions against Russian, Chinese, and other companies based in different countries on a whim.

Eugene should just completely relocate his business. I think he tried but the Russian government required him to keep a presence within its borders. Even if he relocated HQ and all major operation centers to the US, I think there would still be unresolved security concerns. For one, most of this is not about the software products themselves. It is about all the people that work within the Kaspersky empire.

A lot of Eugene's leaders and most capable personnel are all ex-KGB, FSB or other intelligence and counterintelligence agencies. So it has been argued that it does not matter where he relocates the company, which is of course, accurate. Relocation alone will not prevent the things that are a security vulnerability.

This is all publicly discussed many times in a bunch of different places.

And Kaspersky doesn't even called it war or make it a statement against Ukraine war like any other vendor as ESET or Bitdefender did.

 

[SpiderWeb]

Covered Applications and Prohibited Technologies | Texas Department of Information Resources

Overview On December 7, 2022, Governor Greg Abbott required all state agencies to ban the video sharing application TikTok and other prohibited technologies from all state-owned devices and networks over the Chinese Communist Party’s ability to use the application for surveilling Texans...

dir.texas.gov

View attachment 283897

WPS OFFICE?? What did I miss?

I don't disagree with Biden. But, I also feel like most Americans don't use it either.

 

[cartaphilus]

Amanda Crawford is the Director of the Texas Department of Information Services. She makes all the ban decisions for the state of Texas. Attached are official infos about her.

Is she Democrat, Republican, ANTIFA, Anarchist, MAGA, Boogaloo, socialist, capitalist, communist, xenophobe, radical activist, gimme my transition hormones or else ... or just a professional trying to do what is in the best interests of the citizens of Texas?

View attachment 283899

Hell yeah! That restores a bit of faith in people.

 

[kailyn]

WPS OFFICE?? What did I miss?

KingSoft has been accused of filtering user documents and censoring them at the behest of the CCP.

"The company’s [KingSoft] latest statement mentioned the Chinese Cybersecurity Law, implying that Kingsoft has no option but to follow the Chinese government to conduct censorship."

Strict Government Censorship Requirements Leave Chinese Tech Companies Struggling Overseas

The latest scandal regarding WPS Office highlights the bind Chinese tech companies face.

thediplomat.com

At least for government agencies at all levels it is not safe to have any Chinese software installed on their systems. The Chinese government has the will to compel any technology company to do what it says - and those companies will do it because they want to keep the company and its people alive.

 

[kailyn]

I don't disagree with Biden. But, I also feel like most Americans don't use it either.

The issue is that everybody is connected nowadays via the internet. So it is possible that reconnaissance can happen on anyone's system that has Kaspersky product on it and from there infos is gathered that leads to attacks on other systems with sensitive or valuable data.

This whole hubub about Kaspersky began when KIS uploaded US government software and other files from a nobody subcontractor. Kaspersky products upload files and data from systems, which it has admitted many times. Anyone with half a walnut for a brain understands that since that it is the case it poses a security risk. The only way to mitigate the risks is to avoid Kaspersky software.

 

[SpiderWeb]

The issue is that everybody is connected nowadays via the internet. So it is possible that reconnaissance can happen on anyone's system that has Kaspersky product on it and from there infos is gathered that leads to attacks on other systems with sensitive or valuable data.

This whole hubub about Kaspersky began when KIS uploaded US government software and other files from a nobody subcontractor. Kaspersky products upload files and data from systems, which it has admitted many times. Anyone with half a walnut for a brain understands that since that it is the case it poses a security risk. The only way to mitigate the risks is to avoid Kaspersky software.

Yeah true but every anti-virus does malware sample submission. It's the main reason I try to avoid them by using a Mac.

 

[Shadowra]

Ban Kaspersky?
Wasn't Norton also linked to the NSA?

 

[harlan4096]

Kaspersky Statement on the U.S. Commerce Department Determination

www.kaspersky.com

 

[FoxtrotCZ]

I still use Kaspersky because it allows me to firewall block all apps from particular vendor in one click. And it automatically updates if I install any others apps for that vendor. See image. What other software can do the same?

It also allows me to set custom rules for these groups of apps. For example blocking all network traffic with exception of one chosen local IP. See image.

These features are important to me and I dont know any other software that has them. What should I do then? I just dont see any alternative I could switch to.
And yes, I tried really hard to find alternative solution... Yet I failed: Advice Request - Firewall similar to Kaspersky

 

[micasayyo]

There are already a few countries that advise against using Kaspersky and now the United States, there may be more countries after them that also prohibit it. I personally believe that it is the best antivirus but, currently, of the several computers I have, I only have it on 1. installed. We'll see what happens in the future

 

[FALLEN]

“Alleged Russian links”

This is censorship. Nowadays, we hear more and more news about the US banning things. In some states, people can't access porn sites unless they provide their IDs. They always criticize China and others, but they do the same thing with good propaganda. Always the same talking points, like "they are banning Kaspersky because it is a threat to national security". They are banning TikTok because it is a threat too. Yeah, but every authoritarian regime says that. LOL.

 

[brambedkar59]

The way I see it, if you are working with sensitive/confidential govt data it makes sense to not use the AV/security product from a country your country is not allied or close friends with. That old news of NSA contactor using Kaspersky while working with NSA hacking tools was pretty funny. Did he not know about how KSN works? I mean what was he expecting *insert suprise Pikachu face*

 

[kailyn]

Yeah true but every anti-virus does malware sample submission. It's the main reason I try to avoid them by using a Mac.

Not all antivirus upload files.