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US Senators Seek Military Ban on Kaspersky Lab Products Amid FBI Probe (reuters.com)
An anonymous reader shares a report: U.S. senators sought on Wednesday to ban Moscow-based cyber security firm Kaspersky Lab's products from use by the military because of fears the company is vulnerable to "Russian government influence," a day after the FBI interviewed several of its U.S. employees as part of a probe into its operations. Federal Bureau of Investigation agents visited the homes of Kaspersky employees late on Tuesday in multiple U.S. cities, although no search warrants were served, according to two sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the FBI probe. Kaspersky Lab confirmed in a statement on Wednesday that FBI agents have had "brief interactions" with some of its U.S. employees, discussions that the company described as "due diligence" chats. The interviews were followed on Wednesday by the release of a defense spending policy bill passed by the Senate Armed Services Committee, which would prohibit the U.S. Defense Department from using Kaspersky software platforms because the company "might be vulnerable to Russian government influence," according to a summary of the legislation.
the US military is using russian based software? you kidding me?
"Science will win because it works." - Stephen Hawking
That's all.
They write the malware and then try to collect a bounty from vendors for "discovering" it during their "research". About time they crack down on those pricks.
"We'll create the cure; we made the disease"
"Well I know just what you need
I might just have the thing
I know what you'd pay to feel"
I wouldn't touch that stuff with a ten foot Pole. Or even a Ukrainian.
Why not just cut to the heart of the issue and impose a ban on Microsoft products?
Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
If Kaspersky is corrupt and letting Russian malware through (and I'm not saying they are, they're probably legit) could it be a little late?
If Kaspersky were rotten and letting Russian Malware through, then that software would already be installed and hooked into the computers. Sure, getting rid of Kaspersky may help new computers not be infected, but if they were bad, then the military is already infiltrated to a degree.
"That's the way to do it" - Punch
Other countries have the right to not purchase US products if they are afraid that it would be used against their own personal benefit.
Countries like Russia with their 3 letter agencies, seems be near a lot missing people who seemed to happen to say something that they don't like.
While in America, we can bitch and complain about anything, including the President. Without fear of disappearing the next day.
For the most part and the US isn't at all perfect at it, the US 3 Letter Agencies are actually focused on National Security, not keeping the current political party in good standings.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
I am using operating system from USA, antivirus from Russia and backup program from China. This way I have achieved multiple, geographically diverse backups for all my important data. I still need to test the recovery process though.
Because people in the West have it so good, relative to much of the rest of the world, I think that we have a tendency towards absurd hypercriticalness and outright hyperbole. I'm not saying the three letter agencies and their equivalents in other Western countries don't abuse their powers, and certainly the stores, for instance, of J. Edgar Hoover show us how it's important that there be oversight over the conduct of such agencies. But all in all, you're right. Imagine holding a big protest against the leadership in, say, China. In Thailand you can go to jail for insulting the King.
There's always been a strong non-comformist streak in the United States, and it's right in its DNA with the English Non-conformists heading across the Atlantic to get away from what they viewed as the tyrannical interference of the English Crown. And that's a healthy thing... to a point, but more and more I'm seeing paranoia and conspiracy thinking moving into the normal discourse, to the point where when anything happens, many just leap over all the mundane explanations immediately to "the government is out to get us!" I'll admit on occasion even I fall into the trap. It's easy to do, because the human brain seems wired to some extent to commit Fundamental Attribution Errors, and from there it's a short jump to confirmation bias and all the fallacious errors that lead even the best of us at times into accepting absurd explanations of the conduct of others.
The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
Doing this give foreign governments and militaries the excuse they need to move away from American software assets, such as ClamAV, Windows, McAfee, etc.
Maybe they should.
Maybe China and Russia shouldn't be using American software for sensitive equipment. I'd be very surprised if there weren't some American retial software that does spy on foreign computers.
"That's the way to do it" - Punch
This is the best endorsement for using Kaspersky ie. the US government is/was using them despite their being Russian. Also, lets be real...everyone already knows they are the best but this just about confirms it.
I've seen this with a lot of IT sections of larger companies where quite a few of the professionals actually don't know a lot about virus protection other than the concept that they should be using it. Quite often, if they're not working with virus definitions and protection on an ongoing basis, their knowledge is quite often years old, based on the norms of those years back then. And it's not really their fault. It's just because too many people are compartmentalized in doing exactly what they do, so that often an "expert" has little idea what to do when it comes to dealing with security. And instead of try to learn more, people tend to shame anyone that comes up short on time specific knowledge. It's a weird dilemma that has shown up quite a few times, and everyone I talk to always claims to be an expert in an area that he or she really doesn't know that well. It's no wonder companies are hit so hard when actual threats become active.
Sarbonn's blog: http://www.sarbonn.com/blog
I thought the current li(n)e was that there isn't anything wrong with Russian influence. Or does that only apply to The Holy One?
I think its a great idea to stop working with people who are under the influence of Russia.
Anyone who may be compromised by Russians, say they have a shit load of their money tied in projects with russians banks also should be under severe scrutiny. Ah yea, so that why the President is under investigation
come on kaspersky, put the jokers in their place.
"U.S. senators sought on Wednesday to ban Moscow-based cyber security firm Kaspersky Lab .. because" we've already got backdoors into all the rest.
...than the people writing the malware?
I've calculated my velocity with such exquisite precision that I have no idea where I am.
This is pointless grandstanding.
HBI's Law: Frequency of calling others Nazis is directly correlated with the likelihood of the accuser being Communist.
Out of all the things to bitch about, I feel like to get actual work done, there are certain things we need to get past, and Micro$oft products in government offices is one of them.
GTFOH using buzzfeed news as source for senate bill is insane.
No, it's more like referring to black-and-white stripes as normal to hoofed mammals, and you're pointing at a zebra and saying "Hey!".
"When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
I'm fairly sure there's US retail software that spies on everyone, foreign or not.
"When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes