Serious Discussion US to ban its citizens from using Kaspersky?

SpiderWeb

Level 13
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Aug 21, 2020
603
Extremely interesting link @harlan4096 posted. So Kaspersky USA is going to switch to strictly on-device behavior blocker, heuristics, AI. The most interesting point in the FAQ in my opinion and kind of the program I always wanted on macOS. A stripped down on-device AI antivirus. I wonder if Kaspersky will seize the opportunity and retool their program to basically provide Kaspersky Free on all US platforms or are they just giving up on the consumer market because it sounds like they can keep around 80% of the functionality intact if they find a way to make a very capable AI behavior blocker that understands patterns in new malware without relying on signatures and deeper analysis.

I'm watching this closely because while this sounds like bad news, it is very much an opportunity to rise from the ashes and reinvent what an AV can be. Signature-less antiviruses exist but no big brand AV has attempted to fully rely on that alone. But, with the rise of AI, this could be the thing that could cause a paradigm shift in the AV industry.
 

RansomwareRemediation

Level 4
Verified
Well-known
Jun 22, 2020
189
I bought a cheap Kaspersky Plus license, but with this ban, I see no reason to continue using Kaspersky. Regardless of whether the ban is only in the US, it may affect whether it is also banned in Europe. Remember that the US owns NATO (32 countries), although it has not yet been banned in them, it is a fairly high possibility. You know that antiviruses detect malware based on reputation and whether or not there are fewer users, it will affect the protection of the antivirus in the future, regardless of the number of layers the av has.
 
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RansomwareRemediation

Level 4
Verified
Well-known
Jun 22, 2020
189
Extremely interesting link @harlan4096 posted. So Kaspersky USA is going to switch to strictly on-device behavior blocker, heuristics, AI. The most interesting point in the FAQ in my opinion and kind of the program I always wanted on macOS. A stripped down on-device AI antivirus. I wonder if Kaspersky will seize the opportunity and retool their program to basically provide Kaspersky Free on all US platforms or are they just giving up on the consumer market because it sounds like they can keep around 80% of the functionality intact if they find a way to make a very capable AI behavior blocker that understands patterns in new malware without relying on signatures and deeper analysis.

I'm watching this closely because while this sounds like bad news, it is very much an opportunity to rise from the ashes and reinvent what an AV can be. Signature-less antiviruses exist but no big brand AV has attempted to fully rely on that alone. But, with the rise of AI, this could be the thing that could cause a paradigm shift in the AV industry.
Even if they add AI to the behavior blocker, all AVs work based on Reputation. It is banned, you will not be able to use a free Kaspersky solution either, because the signatures will not reach the server where the ban is located, therefore, you will be forced to change the solution. That's what I understand is the ban. Unless you use VPN, but if you do and the government finds out, you could get in federal trouble.
 

SumTingWong

Level 28
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Apr 2, 2018
1,782

@harlan4096
  • Database update and connectivity to Kaspersky Security Network (KSN) cloud service
    Kaspersky will be prohibited from providing product updates to US customers, including antivirus signature and codebase updates.
    Security apps will be disconnected from Kaspersky Security Network, which will limit the operation of some product features. Please see below to learn more about what features are dependent on Kaspersky Security Network and will become unavailable.
    • File and Web Antivirus
      Without connection to virus database updates, our antivirus security will undergo significant functional changes. Incoming data and network traffic will no longer be matched against this database of known signatures. As a result, product security will switch to heuristic analysis. Under this approach, behavior that may indicate a potential threat is monitored within a controlled environment. This takes more time than checking the signature against the virus database and provides limited protection.

@harlan4096
Do you think EU may follow US too on Kaspersky security products banned?
 

TairikuOkami

Level 37
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May 13, 2017
2,628
2018 - The Kaspersky ban resolution was approved, with 476 votes to 151.
Kaspersky Lab has been trying to prove its innocence with measures such as its Global Transparency Initiative, which moves some of the company's processes out of Russia and to Switzerland.
EU approved the ban in 2018, but it is up to the countries whether they ban it, like Lithuania. Innocent until proven guilty, at least as far as EU wide-ban goes, since Kaspersky cooperates.
 

micasayyo

Level 3
Jan 31, 2022
120
Politics and more politics, they criticize Kaspersky but do we know what Google and Microsoft do with our data...... do they know what you do, what you buy or what you want to buy, where you are on vacation, etc. etc. In my country, Spain, like many EU countries, has imposed many sanctions on Russia but that is not really true since now Spain buys more gas from Russia than before the sanctions. we are hypocrites
 

SeriousHoax

Level 49
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Mar 16, 2019
3,861
Kaspersky saying goodbye to U.S. customers 😔
k.jpeg
 

cartaphilus

Level 10
Verified
Well-known
Mar 17, 2023
496
My Checkpoint Harmony that's running KAV just told me to vote for TRUMP or else it will wipe my harddrive. /s

But honestly, yeap I am no longer able to update the Checkpoint Harmony KAV signatures....I had to switch to the DHS compliant version (Sophos) and now it works fine.. HOWEVER, SOPHOS detects my benign game memory modifiers (trainers) as malicious...something that KAV never did....that's what I liked about KAV....it didn't care that you had trainers....it knew what trainers were and it left it alone.
 

cartaphilus

Level 10
Verified
Well-known
Mar 17, 2023
496
"Kaspersky Lab has been trying to prove its innocence with measures such as its Global Transparency Initiative, which moves some of the company's processes out of Russia and to Switzerland."

Who cares where they move to and how open their code is. It's not what's in the code but who is in charge of the code. The code can be clean as a whistle but if it uploads sensitive files to it's database and then the people behind the curtain use those files to inform their handlers then that's a different story. yes the same can be said about any other antivirus company. However, US is not in sensitive data competition with the other AV companies; sure Chinese AV can be said to do the same but Chinese AV is not as widely used as KAV was. I mean how many of your friends/coworkers are using a Chinese AV vs how many were using KAV?
 

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