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Trump Administration Orders Purge of Kaspersky Products From U.S. Government

K

KojiKnight

Member
The Trump administration on Wednesday told U.S. government agencies to remove Kaspersky Lab products from their information systems, saying it was concerned the Moscow-based cyber security firm was vulnerable to Kremlin influence.

The decision represents a sharp response to what U.S. intelligence agencies have described as a national security threat posed by Russia in cyberspace, following an election year marred by allegations that Moscow weaponized the internet in an attempt to influence its outcome.
Click to expand...

https://www.usnews.com/news/technol...urge-of-kaspersky-products-from-us-government

Apparently there is no announced hard proof that their products have been used for espionage, but there are known ties between the founder and the Kremlin. It's also good publicity for Trump to separate himself from Russia.
 
G

GiantBeagle

Neo Member
I read "Trump administration orders purge" and had a minor heart attack.

Edit: OT; Trump is trying to seperate himself from Russia now? What?
 
C

Captain Pants

Killed by a goddamned Dredgeling
We wouldn't want anything vulnerable to Kremlin influence in the government. Good thing Trump is on the case.
 
Q

QuantumBro

Banned
This sounds good, but since Trump's doing this it can't be. Bet he's going to replace Kaspersky with nothing and make it even easier for Russians to hack into the DNC.
 
B

BrassDragon

Member
Dreams-Visions said:
But why are government computers using Kapersky in the first place? Goood annual rates for corporate solutions?
Click to expand...

The success of Kaspersky Lab hinges on the worldwide licensing of their software in anything from firewalls to sensitive telecommunications equipment. Their tech is everywhere even if you don't see the Kaspersky label on the tin.

This silent encroachment has been the subject of discussion in the intelligence community for a while. Even if Kaspersky Lab is not a willing and active tool of the Russian government, they are highly vulnerable to infiltration and manipulation by the Putin regime.

Being wary of their software makes sense and as cyber becomes the new battlefield of superpowers, you can't afford to ignore even small risks.
 
L

Lombax

Banned
Cool. So remove security utils from gov computers, and replace with ??? on ??? date. Sounds like the orange fuck is on message.

I get that that kaspersky is but one layer of gov IT security, but this still seems like a really stupid idea.
 
T

The Albatross

Member
Dreams-Visions said:
But why are government computers using Kapersky in the first place? Goood annual rates for corporate solutions?
Click to expand...

Pretty much. Kaspersky has always been cheap. I work for a company that makes software that literally runs on military hardware and NASA equipment, and we use Kaspersky for our desktop anti-virus ... and most likely because it's inexpensive while generally having a decent reputation.

Following last year's election interference, many at the company started openly questioning whether we should use a different vendor, and it's being investigated. Over the summer, intelligence institutions in the US started recommending against it and that moved the process up.
 
V

Valtýr

Member
I work for an IT provider and we're dealing with this right now. A lot of clients want to get off of Kaspersky and we're scrambling to find an alternative.
 
R

rpmurphy

Member
Valtýr;248863232 said:
I work for an IT provider and we're dealing with this right now. A lot of clients want to get off of Kaspersky and we're scrambling to find an alternative.
Click to expand...
Do you have knowledge of which vendors you're looking at?

Just curious because our company switched to Sophos (but not from Kaspersky) and I was wondering if they are good.
 
Z

ZealousD

Makes world leading predictions like "The sun will rise tomorrow"
Valtýr;248863232 said:
I work for an IT provider and we're dealing with this right now. A lot of clients want to get off of Kaspersky and we're scrambling to find an alternative.
Click to expand...

Bitdefender?
 
J

Jackpot

Banned
Majority of posts read like

1324596542030_7713053.png


Not every single action out of the Trump admin is some sleazy scheme.
 
B

Brandon F

Well congratulations! You got yourself caught!
Been using Kaspersky since like 2005? I'm ready to transition, but need recommendations.

Can Win10 alone suffice for now?
 
F

F34R

Member
Valtýr;248863232 said:
I work for an IT provider and we're dealing with this right now. A lot of clients want to get off of Kaspersky and we're scrambling to find an alternative.
Click to expand...

Why do they want to get off of it?
 
D

Dreams-Visions

Member
The Albatross said:
Pretty much. Kaspersky has always been cheap. I work for a company that makes software that literally runs on military hardware and NASA equipment, and we use Kaspersky for our desktop anti-virus ... and most likely because it's inexpensive while generally having a decent reputation.

Following last year's election interference, many at the company started openly questioning whether we should use a different vendor, and it's being investigated. Over the summer, intelligence institutions in the US started recommending against it and that moved the process up.
Click to expand...
Seems like a good call then. Better safe than sorry. If you don't feel you can trust your software vendor, move on to one you can.
 
S

Struct09

Member
Kaspersky is good at what they do and I would tend to trust them, but easy to understand why the government would make this decision after all the Russian election interference.
 
R

Reani

Member
Netherscourge said:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/...y-cyber-russia-spy-agency-20170703-story.html
$
Click to expand...
as a russian, i can tell you what the text on this picture says
"its a suitable software to use in government facilities and facilities that operate with protected (secret) information"

its absolutely nothing.

Russia is also making moves to remove foreign software from its workplaces (at least in government facilities) but that is already known. It kinda makes sense to do the same for US. Its actually confusing to me why US doesnt have a good alternative like other people say
 
ISee

ISee

Member
Lol. Didn't he plan to form a special anti hacking unit with Russia during the G20 summit in Hamburg. Only to get called out by everybody for it?
 
H

HideyoshiJP

Member
Struct09 said:
Kaspersky is good at what they do and I would tend to trust them, but easy to understand why the government would make this decision after all the Russian election interference.
Click to expand...
Same here. I trust them for personal use, but they're going to have trouble in the US enterprise market if they don't leave Russia. Not an easy thing to do.
 
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