Announcing Kaspersky Free Anti-Virus

A lot of paranoid Androids here

Many Favorite AV solutions are from former East Block countries:

Kaspersky is Russian.
BitDefender is Romanian.
Avast & AVG are from the Czech Republic.
ESET is from Slovakia.

And a few hated(haters will hate) are American:
PC Matic, McAfee, Norton, Fortinet, Webroot, Windows Defender

Sooooo.....
Read this before commenting: AV-Comparatives AV-Vendors - AV-Comparatives

ICIT2LOL said:

Now I have used Kaspersky paid for for the last six years and lets face it you could read all sorts of crap into them collecting info/data for his home country so the same could be said for an American based AV company collecting the very same from users in Russia or what was termed the eastern block seems to me a lot of paranoia going around at the moment and again nothing is safer than you being careful whatever you use.

One thing I might add is that Kaspersky for a long time now has NOT liked playing with MBAM in any form in fact it was one of the defining issues in my Ivy build having so many problems over the last 18 months. I should I suppose say that it out here anyway.

Going to the blog part where Shawn sowed the distribution areas in my experience it sometimes does not always download the first or even maybe the second time so one just has to keep trying.

Agreed, it's a good product, Defender has the same if not more telemetry built-in... Those that despise Kas probably come from the World Wars era.. BTW I think BitDefender rules :)

JohnBurns said:

Agree with you Cliff. Even tho I have had a subscription to Kaspersky, since 2016, I no longer feel safe with it considering all the discussion about the owner and his background. I know many don't trust Microsoft, but I do much more than Kaspersky. Just my preference - not a political statement.

Windows defender made by Microsoft based in the USA works fine for me.


Some interesting news articles from the past 24 hours:


Kaspersky Anti-Virus Can Actually Help Spies Steal Data, Warn Researchers

In many ways Kaspersky anti-virus tools are a boon for personal and business security. But in one rather significant way, the Russian company's security software can actually help criminal hackers and spies, researchers claimed Thursday.

They say they've found a way to force the anti-virus products to assist snoops in pilfering data from segmented networks, those not connected to the wider internet. And Kaspersky says it isn't going to fix the problem, even though three other vendors who were found wanting in the exact same way decided to implement technical changes to make the attacks impossible.

It comes at a time when the American intelligence community is reviewing government use of the security software over fears about it being embedded in U.S. government networks, while concerns remain over CEO Eugene Kaspersky's alleged connections to the Kremlin...

....SafeBreach disagreed with Kaspersky’s assessment. In particular, Klein took umbrage with Kaspersky’s suggestion that it was difficult to have the sattelite malware sent up to the cloud. “We managed to trigger Kaspersy's product easily and make it send our malware to the cloud for execution inside a sandbox with an open internet connection. It's a consistent and simple technique, so malware authors [will] have no problems incorporating it into their future versions.

“The fact that Kaspersky is the only AV vendor out of four that responded that way is another evidence that their risk analysis is in error here.”

Kaspersky Anti-Virus Can Actually Help Spies Steal Data, Warn Researchers


US Congress: Products could be used for "nefarious activities against the United States,"

A U.S. congressional panel this week asked 22 government agencies to share documents on Moscow-based cyber firm Kaspersky Lab, saying its products could be used to carry out "nefarious activities against the United States," according to letters seen by Reuters.

The requests made on Thursday by the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science, Space and Technology are the latest blow to the antivirus company, which has been countering accusations by U.S. officials that it may be vulnerable to Russian government influence.

The committee asked the agencies for all documents and communications about Kaspersky Lab products dating back to Jan. 1, 2013, including any internal risk assessments. It also requested lists of any systems that use Kaspersky products and the names of any U.S. government contractors or subcontractors that do so.

Kaspersky has repeatedly denied that it has ties to any government and said it would not help any government with cyber espionage. It said there is no evidence for the accusations made by U.S. officials.

The committee "is concerned that Kaspersky Lab is susceptible to manipulation by the Russian government, and that its products could be used as a tool for espionage, sabotage, or other nefarious activities against the United States," wrote the panel's Republican chairman, Lamar Smith, in the letters.

Exclusive: Congress asks U.S. agencies for Kaspersky Lab cyber documents

Cliff S said:

A lot of paranoid Androids here

Many Favorite AV solutions are from former East Block countries:

Kaspersky is Russian.
BitDefender is Romanian.
Avast & AVG are from the Czech Republic.
ESET is from Slovakia.

And a few hated(haters will hate) are American:
PC Matic, McAfee, Norton, Fortinet, Webroot, Windows Defender

Sooooo.....
Read this before commenting: AV-Comparatives AV-Vendors - AV-Comparatives

Isn't there one thats German?

swarfega said:

Isn't there one thats German?

Yes, but my point was: It shouldn't make a difference where they're from. I mean, business is business.

Cliff S said:

Yes, but my point was: It shouldn't make a difference where they're from. I mean, business is business.

Indeed it shouldn't.

AV-Comparatives made a test in 2014, only Ahnlab and Emsisoft did not send any sensitive info.

Is Your Antivirus Tracking You? Youd Be Surprised At What It Sends

Bitdefender has recently helped to take down a dark webpage.

I have Kaspersky license but I uninstalled it. I guess I don't like the thought of playing Russian Roulette. LOL I am just too cautious.....