U.S. intelligence chiefs say reviewing use of Kaspersky software

[cruelsister]

U.S. intelligence officials told a Congressional committee on Thursday they are reviewing government use of software from Russia's Kaspersky Lab as senators raised concerns that Moscow might use the product to attack American computer networks.

National Security Agency Director Mike Rogers told a Senate committee that he was “personally involved” in monitoring the Kaspersky issue, but did not elaborate. “We are tracking Kaspersky and their software,” said Defense Intelligence Agency Director Vincent Stewart.

ABC News and Buzzfeed News this week reported U.S. officials were increasingly concerned that Russian spies might seek to use Kaspersky computer-security software to spy on Americans or sabotage key U.S. systems. ABC said the U.S. Department of Homeland Security issued a secret report on the matter in February and that the FBI was investigating Kaspersky Lab's relationship to the Russian government, citing unnamed sources.

Reuters was not able to verify the claims, which Kaspersky Lab denied in a statement: “As a private company, Kaspersky Lab has no ties to any government, and the company has never helped, nor will help, any government in the world with its cyber espionage efforts."

Democratic Senator Joe Manchin said at Thursday's Senate hearing on global security threats that lawmakers were “very concerned” about Kaspersky Labs and asked intelligence officials if they could confirm they did not have Kaspersky software on their networks. “We are tracking Kaspersky and their software,” Stewart said. “There is as far as I know no Kaspersky software on our networks,” though he added it was more difficult to assess whether the same could be said for intelligence contractors.

Marco Rubio, Republican Senator from Florida, asked the chiefs of the NSA, Central Intelligence Agency, Federal Bureau of Investigation, DIA and two other intelligence agencies if they would be comfortable using Kaspersky products. All said no.

Eugene Kaspersky, the company's founder and chief executive, said in a question-and-answer session on the website Reddit that he would be happy to testify before the Senate to assuage their concerns about his company's products. “I respectfully disagree with their opinion, and I’m very sorry these gentlemen can’t use the best software on the market because of political reasons,” he said.

https://ibest9.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Russia-FSB.png?x16703

 

[onreact]

Scaremongering. The biggest menace to security is Donald Trump and his reckless disbanding of Internet rights like privacy or net neutrality. "The only thing we need to fear is fear itself." FDR

 

[jamescv7]

Here we go, a conspiracy theory in the making.

Clear sense that America vs other countries like Russia are already escalated on different issues including in terms of technology so of course any programs that are developed within specific regions will open for question.

Honestly it just create another conflict because of unverified claims.

 

[Handsome Recluse]

He just said it's the best software on the market.
I wanna see drama.

 

[frogboy]

But Kaspersky offered them their source code to study so I am guessing scaremongering.

 

[ZeroDay]

America really needs to stop being so paranoid about Russia, the American government are turning into North Korea lol

 

[ZeroDay]

What are your thoughts on the subject cruelsister ? Thanks for the share by the way.

 

[omidomi]

it seems they get paranoia against Russia
sample :
DIA: ohh I think CIA work with Russia
CIA: oh come on I think NSA work for Russia
NSA: I think both of you work for Russia
after 1 year!
NSA will investigate to All USA citizens to "dose they work for Russia?!"" I think all people around the world work for Russia" NSA said
Russia phobia

 

[cruelsister]

Zero- This is such a complex question and not easily (or briefly) answered. It reminds me of the bad old days when a brief 2 page summary had to turn into a 120 page diatribe in order to respond adequately. The issue for Security Services in using a given malware gateway product is that not only current reality needs to be considered, but also potentialities- and this makes things complex and convoluted.

By this I mean simply that even if a product can be taken apart and found to have no evidence of any sort of data collection mechanisms, this by no means makes a product secure. In the case of Kaspersky, it was found about 10 years ago that general user information (system configuration, license key, IP addy, etc) would be harvested and sent back to K via User Agent strings. Essentially this gives a blueprint for future exploitation. Although this sort of thing can be blown off by a Home user (No one really cares about us), it was of paramount concern to those that are trying to lock down sensitive information.

But would K actually use this data for anything underhanded? I mean, it's not like they are affiliated with Spy Networks! Although it is curious to note that old Evgeny himself certainly has ties to Russian Espionage, and anyone that knows anything about Kaspersky Labs knows about that little place right next door- the Global Research and Expert Analysis Team (GREAT). Here there is absolutely no doubt about a connection with the FSB, as both places work hand-in-hand to take down criminal Botnets and other Gang related malware (God, they are frequently on loan to the UN's International Telecommunication Union in Geneva!). But they also are on the lookout for stuff like Stuxnet and Flame. Eugene K trumpeted these revelations as how Kaspersky software can be use to make the World a Safer and more Peaceful place (“The target is to save the world.”). Bravo!

However never a peep about the malware that took down Ukrainian C&C and parts of their infrastructure during the aggressive phase of the Russian takeover of Crimea. Guess they must have been on vacation.

Enough of that- let's mention what Governmental Security must consider- the potentialities of abuse. The best way to "backdoor" an application is to give source code to a group of world class coders (like those in GREAT) and have them add a little surprise like some subtle exploit that allows a third party malware file to run on systems with a certain configuration under certain circumstances. Pretty much impossible to detect, but even if it is there can be plausible deniability for the Vendor with the burden of the abuse placed on those Pesky Blackhats. Likely? Who knows? Possible? Absolutely.


Without any further dancing around, note the link at the bottom of the OP. That pretty much sums up my feelings.

 

[ZeroDay]

Zero- This is such a complex question and not easily (or briefly) answered. It reminds me of the bad old days when a brief 2 page summary had to turn into a 120 page diatribe in order to respond adequately. The issue for Security Services in using a given malware gateway product is that not only current reality needs to be considered, but also potentialities- and this makes things complex and convoluted.

By this I mean simply that even if a product can be taken apart and found to have no evidence of any sort of data collection mechanisms, this by no means makes a product secure. In the case of Kaspersky, it was found about 10 years ago that general user information (system configuration, license key, IP addy, etc) would be harvested and sent back to K via User Agent strings. Essentially this gives a blueprint for future exploitation. Although this sort of thing can be blown off by a Home user (No one really cares about us), it was of paramount concern to those that are trying to lock down sensitive information.

But would K actually use this data for anything underhanded? I mean, it's not like they are affiliated with Spy Networks! Although it is curious to note that old Evgeny himself certainly has ties to Russian Espionage, and anyone that knows anything about Kaspersky Labs knows about that little place right next door- the Global Research and Expert Analysis Team (GREAT). Here there is absolutely no doubt about a connection with the FSB, as both places work hand-in-hand to take down criminal Botnets and other Gang related malware (God, they are frequently on loan to the UN's International Telecommunication Union in Geneva!). But they also are on the lookout for stuff like Stuxnet and Flame. Eugene K trumpeted these revelations as how Kaspersky software can be use to make the World a Safer and more Peaceful place (“The target is to save the world.”). Bravo!

However never a peep about the malware that took down Ukrainian C&C and parts of their infrastructure during the aggressive phase of the Russian takeover of Crimea. Guess they must have been on vacation.

Enough of that- let's mention what Governmental Security must consider- the potentialities of abuse. The best way to "backdoor" an application is to give source code to a group of world class coders (like those in GREAT) and have them add a little surprise like some subtle exploit that allows a third party malware file to run on systems with a certain configuration under certain circumstances. Pretty much impossible to detect, but even if it is there can be plausible deniability for the Vendor with the burden of the abuse placed on those Pesky Blackhats. Likely? Who knows? Possible? Absolutely.


Without any further dancing around, note the link at the bottom of the OP. That pretty much sums up my feelings.

Thank you CS.

 

[Solarquest]

Kasperky is definitely good right now but, since there is a risk and also valid alternatives, why take the risk?...Just use national AV(s).

 

[military]

Kasperky is definitely good right now but, since there is a risk and also valid alternatives, why take the risk?...Just use national AV(s).

Risk of what? In what maybe risk? We here in Russia use also Kaspersky and Norton, is especially actual Eset and Avast.
Can I dream and fantasize? Kaspersky provides source code. This code someone merges into the network and after a while we have a fully opensource and free Kaspersky Anti-Virus with a GNU Public license.

 

[_CyberGhosT_]

Zero- This is such a complex question and not easily (or briefly) answered. It reminds me of the bad old days when a brief 2 page summary had to turn into a 120 page diatribe in order to respond adequately. The issue for Security Services in using a given malware gateway product is that not only current reality needs to be considered, but also potentialities- and this makes things complex and convoluted.

By this I mean simply that even if a product can be taken apart and found to have no evidence of any sort of data collection mechanisms, this by no means makes a product secure. In the case of Kaspersky, it was found about 10 years ago that general user information (system configuration, license key, IP addy, etc) would be harvested and sent back to K via User Agent strings. Essentially this gives a blueprint for future exploitation. Although this sort of thing can be blown off by a Home user (No one really cares about us), it was of paramount concern to those that are trying to lock down sensitive information.

But would K actually use this data for anything underhanded? I mean, it's not like they are affiliated with Spy Networks! Although it is curious to note that old Evgeny himself certainly has ties to Russian Espionage, and anyone that knows anything about Kaspersky Labs knows about that little place right next door- the Global Research and Expert Analysis Team (GREAT). Here there is absolutely no doubt about a connection with the FSB, as both places work hand-in-hand to take down criminal Botnets and other Gang related malware (God, they are frequently on loan to the UN's International Telecommunication Union in Geneva!). But they also are on the lookout for stuff like Stuxnet and Flame. Eugene K trumpeted these revelations as how Kaspersky software can be use to make the World a Safer and more Peaceful place (“The target is to save the world.”). Bravo!

However never a peep about the malware that took down Ukrainian C&C and parts of their infrastructure during the aggressive phase of the Russian takeover of Crimea. Guess they must have been on vacation.

Enough of that- let's mention what Governmental Security must consider- the potentialities of abuse. The best way to "backdoor" an application is to give source code to a group of world class coders (like those in GREAT) and have them add a little surprise like some subtle exploit that allows a third party malware file to run on systems with a certain configuration under certain circumstances. Pretty much impossible to detect, but even if it is there can be plausible deniability for the Vendor with the burden of the abuse placed on those Pesky Blackhats. Likely? Who knows? Possible? Absolutely.


Without any further dancing around, note the link at the bottom of the OP. That pretty much sums up my feelings.

Well written Sis, thanks for that reply.
The US has reason for concern, but how they deal with it, is so immature its laughable.

 

[Windows Defender Shill]

If I was the US government I would not trust any foreign cyber security firm

But as a private citizen I would not worry about Russians spying on me.

 

[Winter Soldier]

Usual chores of squabbles between politicians and at the end there is just a certain indignation for us, common, normal, mortal people.
We should know that the players in the game produce the manipulation of information.

 

[ahity]

it seems they get paranoia against Russia
sample :
DIA: ohh I think CIA work with Russia
CIA: oh come on I think NSA work for Russia
NSA: I think both of you work for Russia
after 1 year!
NSA will investigate to All USA citizens to "dose they work for Russia?!"" I think all people around the world work for Russia" NSA said
Russia phobia

lol .. Russia Phobia

 

[mlnevese]

it seems they get paranoia against Russia
sample :
DIA: ohh I think CIA work with Russia
CIA: oh come on I think NSA work for Russia
NSA: I think both of you work for Russia
after 1 year!
NSA will investigate to All USA citizens to "dose they work for Russia?!"" I think all people around the world work for Russia" NSA said
Russia phobia

Wait... if everybody in the world works for Russia shouldn't the NSA guy arrest himself?

 

[ElectricSheep]

Global Superpower yet one of the most paranoid nations on Earth. It's a joke IMO

 

[Nightwalker]

If I was a "normal" U.S citizen (not in GOV) , Kaspersky would be my obvious choice.

Remember this?

NSA "Project CAMBERDADA"

NSA seems to dont care about US security vendors, I wonder why, maybe a special backdoor by default?

 

[motox781]

If I was a "normal" U.S citizen (not in GOV) , Kaspersky would be my obvious choice.

Remember this?

NSA "Project CAMBERDADA"

NSA seems to dont care about US security vendors, I wonder why, maybe a special backdoor by default?

Spot on!