'Very High Level Of Confidence' Russia Used Kaspersky Software For Devastating NSA Leaks

[edpc]

Three months after U.S. officials asserted that Russian intelligence used popular antivirus company Kaspersky to steal U.S. classified information, there are indications that the alleged espionage is related to a public campaign of highly damaging NSA leaks by a mysterious group called the Shadow Brokers.

“That’s a Russian intelligence operation,” a former senior intelligence official, who requested anonymity to speak bluntly, told Yahoo Finance. “They’ve gotten a lot noisier than they used to be.”



https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/experts-link-nsa-leaks-shadow-brokers-russia-kaspersky-144840962.html

[catfish1957]

Kaspersky?

And I thought Russia was only known by hot female tennis players.

[edpc]

Kaspersky?

And I thought Russia was only known by hot female tennis players.

Downloading pics of Anna Kournikova has probably led to security breaches over the years as well.

[NavyCanDo]

We have had Kaspersky for about three years now. No issues with it, and it is still rated as one of the best for virus and malware protection. But I do not doubt the Russians are using it for data diving and maybe even esspeinauge. But what search engine doesn't do that already?

[DB]

We have had Kaspersky for about three years now. No issues with it, and it is still rated as one of the best for virus and malware protection. But I do not doubt the Russians are using it for data diving and maybe even esspeinauge. But what search engine doesn't do that already?

A search engine doesn't have root access to your computer.

A virus scanner does.

[roamer_1]

We have had Kaspersky for about three years now. No issues with it, and it is still rated as one of the best for virus and malware protection. But I do not doubt the Russians are using it for data diving and maybe even esspeinauge. But what search engine doesn't do that already?

KAV is THE indisputable king of anti virus and anti-malware - particularly from a cleanup point of view. It has no peer, though some come somewhat close.

I will withhold judgement till I hear what the deal is in real (technical) terms, and till the company has a chance to refute the charges. It is so very antithetical to what the company stands for, that I find it hard to believe.

I will quit using them, if this proves to be true - but what to replace them with is a hard question.  Nothing detects as well as Kaspersky. 
 

[anubias]

This came out quite a while ago.  I loved the product back in the day when it was “F-Protectd” and Peter Norton sold out.

As an IT professional responsible for secure systems, I chose Eset (NOD32) for the Windoze machines as it was the most reliable at that time.  Kapersky often let viri thought upon subnet testing when NOD did not.

Is it still the product it once was?  I have no idea, but our company uses it and has yet to be infected.  That doesn’t mean we won’t eventually will be as I don’t believe any antivirus is failsafe.  Common sense goes a long way toward safe computer use.  As for keeping the spies out of your computer, good luck with that if connected to the internet.  Call me paranoid, but I assume they’re in every OS out there including open source and model my behavior accordingly.

[roamer_1]

This came out quite a while ago.  I loved the product back in the day when it was “F-Protectd” and Peter Norton sold out.

Funny you should mention FProtect.
It's still around, and I used and recommended it for many, many years.

As an IT professional responsible for secure systems, I chose Eset (NOD32) for the Windoze machines as it was the most reliable at that time.  Kapersky often let viri thought upon subnet testing when NOD did not.

Eset is excellent - One of the alternatives that immediately spring to mind as an alternative to KAV
As a repair tech, my perspective is probably different - I care less about the front door than I do the ability to clean house - Realtime is really important, but in the end, it is OnDemand scanning that has to kill and detect that which does get through.

In real terms, much does get through. Zero day is what it's supposedly all about, but much of that is not true. many things run for quite a while before they are detected and added to signatures. Inevitably, it is the OnDemand scanner, that must detect that which DID get through, and must clean the infection. This is where KAV stands alone. Nothing I have used detects anywhere near as well.

Is it still the product it once was?  I have no idea, but our company uses it and has yet to be infected.

YES - Whether talking about KAV or NOD32...

Since I always scan with multiple AVs cleaning up an infection, I am in a rather unique position to test real-world capabilities of anti-virus software in an anecdotal, though real-world fashion... At least, as I said, wrt on-demand scanning is concerned. I routinely test them (it is part of my winter season fun).

Part of my semi-automated routine software allows me to run multiple AVs, one after the other, so I can very easily run five or so scanners through an infected box before I even look at it on my bench. And I can tell by their order, and their logs, which AV is doing the best job, and that is invariably KAV, and has been for years - Even all the way back when Norton was 'king' - Kaspersky was better.

In my testing, KAV is indisputably the best, with Emsisoft (their EEK cleanup engine) and Eset in close competition... Sophos, and BitDefender rising to the top of the lagging pack...And Panda getting an honorable mention.

I am glad you mentioned FProtect - I dumped them over a software glitch in their FP6 engine - I am sure they got it pounded out, and I really ought to give them another shot.  They have always been good bang-for-buck... Five seats for 30 bucks a year, and are very light in the system (though no one is lighter than NOD32)... They were my top recommendation for SOHO and Residential for years. I am going to put them in the lineup this time around.

[DB]

I've used NOD32 for many years now with good success.

I'm careful with my computers while needing maximum horsepower from them and don't want them dragged down by boat anchor AV software. NOD32 has been the best for not slowing everything down while still doing a good job at protection.

[ConstitutionRose]

KAV is THE indisputable king of anti virus and anti-malware - particularly from a cleanup point of view. It has no peer, though some come somewhat close.

I will withhold judgement till I hear what the deal is in real (technical) terms, and till the company has a chance to refute the charges. It is so very antithetical to what the company stands for, that I find it hard to believe.

I will quit using them, if this proves to be true - but what to replace them with is a hard question.  Nothing detects as well as Kaspersky. 
 

I rarely chime in on these conversations, certainly not after a couple of experiences on the other site.  For some reason my years of experience in the industry and the fact that I am a partner in a company that provides IT services to dozens of small and medium businesses and that we have a security practice and that we've not had a single infection on any one of the thousands of machines we are responsible for since 2011 means nothing.......that said we do not use KAV for a number of ressons.  We have phased out ALL software of any type made overseas with the exception of one Japanese product.

That means we've phased put some products we really liked, but the security risks have become more than a "reasonable" person would be willing to assume.

Security is neither cheap or entirely convenient, but it costs what it costs.

[DB]

I rarely chime in on these conversations, certainly not after a couple of experiences on the other site.  For some reason my years of experience in the industry and the fact that I am a partner in a company that provides IT services to dozens of small and medium businesses and that we have a security practice and that we've not had a single infection on any one of the thousands of machines we are responsible for since 2011 means nothing.......that said we do not use KAV for a number of ressons.  We have phased out ALL software of any type made overseas with the exception of one Japanese product.

That means we've phased put some products we really liked, but the security risks have become more than a "reasonable" person would be willing to assume.

Security is neither cheap or entirely convenient, but it costs what it costs.

Interesting. What do you recommend?

Yes, it bothers me that NOD32 is an east European product. My security line is generally Russian, Turkish, Pakistani and Chinese (and anywhere similar) software. I think it has a lot to do with what type of business is conducted on the computers it runs on. Running KAV on any government computers is an obvious no-no which I don't understand why it wasn't rejected much earlier. Small business and personal use would seem to be mostly safe with the likes of NOD32.