Serious Discussion US to ban its citizens from using Kaspersky?

[likeastar20]

Full article. Thoughts?

The Biden administration is preparing to take the unusual step of issuing an order that would prevent US companies and citizens from using software made by a major Russian cybersecurity firm because of national security concerns, five US officials familiar with the matter told CNN.

The move, which is being finalized and could happen as soon as this month, would use relatively new Commerce Department authorities built on executive orders signed by Presidents Joe Biden and Donald Trump to prohibit Kaspersky Lab from providing certain products and services in the US, the sources said.

US government agencies are already banned from using Kaspersky Lab software but action to prevent private companies from using the software would be unprecedented. Nothing is final until it is announced, the sources cautioned, but the Commerce Department has made an “initial determination” to prohibit certain transactions between the Russian company and US persons, the sources said.

 

[Trident]

Smells more of “Buy the American” campaign. Nothing new.

 

[TairikuOkami]

Technically it is already pretty difficult, since you can not even buy rubles and card payment or paypal transactions to Russian companies are restricted.
You also risk being marked as a terrorist supporter and have your property/accounts confiscated, it happened to many normal people, not just companies.

 

[Jonny Quest]

Smells more of “Buy the American” campaign. Nothing new.

I will give you a hopeful, optimistic on this one, as you never know what this government would do, is capable of doing...ugh

 

[Dave Russo]

How about a peace treaty instead, isn't Kaspersky out of Sweden or Switzerland now?

 

[cofer123]

Thank god the same cannot be said about the US government.

 

[Jonny Quest]

From a link on the same page as @likeastar20 post:

https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/11/politics/russian-hackers-steal-government-hackers-microsoft/index.html?iid=cnn_buildContentRecirc_end_recirc

Days after Microsoft disclosed the breach in January, another Big Tech company, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, said the same hackers had breached its cloud-based email systems. The full extent and exact purpose of the hacking activity isn’t clear, but experts say the group responsible has a history of wide-ranging intelligence gathering campaigns in support of the Kremlin.

About 3 weeks ago Kaspery had a pop-up notification on my phone of the new Privacy Policy to review and accept. I started scrolling through what seemed like a never-ending list, declined it, and uninstalled Kaspersky from my phone. I know all the AV vendors have privacy policies, but this just didn't sit right with me, it seemed to be too much "policy" for me.

 

[Jonny Quest]

Thank god the same cannot be said about the US government.

Agree, we are not purer than the wind-driven snow.

 

[likeastar20]

So what’s the worry ?

 

[Practical Response]

So what’s the worry ?
View attachment 282765

Am I the only one sitting here wondering if he is really Research and Development or secretly an Attorney.

that wording though... "companies that have moved some or all of their business"

Which is it man

 

[KnownStormChaser]

I feel like the US is making the wrong decision here, it should be left up to the individual to decide to stop using it, not the government banning it for everyone. Banning Kaspersky for government computers is fair, makes sense to use local-based software for sensitive material like that. But what about the average Joe just wanting to use a good antivirus? They are about to take a great option off the market, leaving users with less choice now. To be fair, Bitdefender is good too, but for lower end computers it is much more of a resource hog than Kaspersky is. I feel like this is just another “you can't use their spyware, you have to use our spyware”. I would much rather use Kaspersky over Norton or McAfee for various reasons.

I don't know, that was just my two cents. Have a feeling they might do the same thing here in Canada too, just have to wait and see.

 

[CyberDevil]

Honestly, I would be in favor of free market competition and the prevention of any kind of pressure on the market if I didn't know that Kaspersky is almost entirely managed and developed by employees of the Russian Federal Security Service. It is a private company as much as Gazprom is a private company. There is no large private business as a class in Russia, any large business in Russia is affiliated with and directly subordinate to the government. Right now we are at war with Russia (I'm talking about the West and my Israel, not just Ukraine), so it is logical to choose a side. But this is my opinion, I am not forcing it on anyone. And I agree that Kaspersky is probably the best antivirus on the market in many aspects.

 

[russ0408]

I hope Canada doesn't follow suite, I've been Kaspersky for almost a year now, and love it. Plan on using it again when my year is up.

 

[ScandinavianFish]

Right now we are at war with Russia

This is what people have yet to realize. We have been at war with China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, etc, for years now, not on the battlefield with soldiers, tanks and planes, but via cyberattacks on critical infrastructure and disinformation campaigns to divide society. Sure, countries in the west also spies on everyone, but we have at least partial democracy and freedom.

 

[Dave Russo]

If ban goes through, would it affect Zonealarm?

 

[Chuck57]

I'm good with Kaspersky until November. Given this news, I might buy another 2 years right now, while I can.

 

[JoeN]

Good news

 

[robboman]

I'm getting so tired of governments telling people what they can and can't use. I uninstalled F-secure and made the switch to Kaspersky free

 

[Shadowra]

I find this completely stupid, but nothing surprises me since Kaspersky has been blacklisted by the USA since 2017 (Trump did)

But personally, it makes me laugh... Why? In detection alone, Kaspersky is light years ahead of the American AVs (the only one that can still compete with it is Norton).

I think everyone does, because an AV without services or other features is not an antivirus.
Just imagine if you could kill the protection with a simple Taskkill... that would be crazy and the brand would take a hit.

 

[Jonny Quest]

I'm getting so tired of governments telling people what they can and can't use. I uninstalled F-secure and made the switch to Kaspersky free

The way F-Secure is heading, I don't blame you. I've replaced it for now with WD + Configure Defender (and GlassWire free). My Kaspersky Plus ends in Aug. I've thought of doing what @Chuck57 is considering doing...if we would still be able to get updates?

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