Is Kaspersky Anti-Virus Spying for Russia?

Great article Bob. We've known about Kaspersky for years now. It has long standing affiliations with Russian intelligence. That doesn't mean they don't make great software though. Thanks for another thought provoking read.

The fact that Kaspersky is prepared to supply the source code for analysis by the US multitude of Govt. security agencies suggests to me that what some see as a 'no smoke without fire' situation may actually be seeing the result of anther Trump brain fart. I would trust Kaspersky AV more than any currently USA home grown AV product when it comes to potentially containing govt. security hooks.

The mafia would promise protection for a price. Then if a business wouldn't pay something would happen to it. If they paid nothing happened. Maybe Kaspersky works well because it is removing problems it knows about....

Remember American History. There was once an American President who headed off America descending in to paranoia by stating a truism. "The only thing Americans have to be afraid of is Fear itself." And World history has shown that when Politicians use fear as a political tool that it never ends well. ie. Germany in the 1930-40's.

Well if it's politicians that don't trust Kaspersky, then I think the company is nothing to worry about. I'd be more worried if the politicians recommended it. Just 'cause you can get elected don't mean you know anythin' about 'puters.

Oh hum, excuse me while I go take a healthy!

@Nancy Teppler-- The maxim, "Believe half of what you see, and none of what you hear" is a call for skepticism of even accepted truths and reputation. Such a rule easily could be applied to apparently benign corporations and individuals.

Likewise, the problem with demanding "proof" in a world filled with intelligence-gathering and other security exploits is proof heavily depends on level of information and context. All too often, the evidence is not publishable.

In any case, the position taken by intelligence officials on Kaspersky is similar to their positions on a number of PRC-related matters-- it is an assessment of risk, not necessarily a proof that can, or should be debated publicly.

I can see the cause for concern. In Russia, no company can realistically be expected to operate free of goverment control or interference. If authorities in Russia want to use Kaspersky's product to gain access to various computer systems in other countries, it's reasonable to expect that they could do so. In my opinion, the risk is too great to take on any system that contains sensitive information. Call it paranoia if you want. I call it erring on the side of caution. Welcome to reality people.

Wow! Five days to run a scan by Kaspersky as one commenter stated. Surely that is some kind of miscommunication between the poster and K.? Hard to believe ANY scan could run that long, but then I'm only an amateur when it comes to computer technology.

I would rather trust American products.
I am using Window Defender for my Window 7.

Considering recent revelations about the USA intelligence service, I would be hesitant to use security software from the US or Russia.

In a post-Snowden world I'm not inclined to trust anybody (from *any* nation) in the digital world (the USA very much included)... But leaving the doors wide open is not really an option; we need some protection. I remain a skeptic, but this rumour sounds like "fake news", to me, born of prejudice. I work on the premise that the big AV companies, with their reputations to maintain, stand to lose more if they cheat.

Kaspersky has been around for 20 years, if they are spying on users then wouldn't someone have noticed that and said something earlier?

Is there proof of spying or is this another round of paranoia?

I doubt they would risk losing their business over something so foolish.

Considering the failures of the government employees and their ability to keep information secure makes the statements about Kaspersky a mute issue. Why do people not pay attention to the owner of the Russian server group's statement about the computer address in Germany.

I use Kaspersky on most of the computers in my house (I use Trend Micro on one), mostly because they have great deals on multiple copies of the software.
I would note that when installing, Kaspersky objects to the presence of Comodo firewall software (which identifies outgoing as well as incoming threats), so who knows. But I run them both anyway, so I'm not too concerned that Kaspersky might be phoning home.
Their service people are local to me in the Boston area, and I have been to their offices here and heard their sales pitch. I'm satisfied that there's nothing untoward about their software.

Too bad some posters have gone off-topic to bash President Trump so that the poster feels better. I, for one, look to technology forums to get information that is useful. Scrolling through non-related posts is a waste of space. Other Trump bashing forums are out there, so go there to vent and posture.

The anti-Russian fever sweeping the nation is starting to bear the stench of the Red Scare during the McCarthy Era in the 1950s. The one difference is that Soviet communism has been dead for more than 25 years -- and that both Washington AND Moscow have heads of state with a disturbingly nationalist authoritarian streak that come dangerously close to fascism. History has proven again and again that neo-fascist nationalism leads to wars. The famed Spanish-American philosopher George Santayana warned, "Those who fail to learn from the past are condemned to repeat it."

Great! Another balanced and focused article from Bob Rankin.

Frankly, I'm getting tired of the "unnamed sources", investigations that our government is doing that have no basis (or they're not willing to tell us what it is), and all the other subterfuges that are happening now. Whether the President started it all or it's pure negative politics, they "representatives" that our tax dollars pay for should be transparent if there are issues and not start witch hunts. There are significant issues to be addressed and anything else is mishandling of our money. Sounds like this Kaspersky issue falls into the much ado about nothing category.

There are NO evidence against Kaspersky, JUST Russophobia.Have anyone ever seen any evidence ? Have anyone EVER seen any evidence of Russian interference in US elections ? BUT, there are evidence that NSA was spying on Germanys Merkel and the French president and others !
I would NOT trust Norton or any US software, that is why I am using Kaspersky ! Instead of Facebook, it is much more secure to use VKontakte...Twitter is censored by Liberals. I am sure Windows have backdoors to NSA....