Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Israeli Spies 'Watched Russian Agents Breach Kaspersky Software' (bbc.com)

Posted by msmash on from the security-woes dept.

Israeli spies looked on as Russian hackers breached Kaspersky cyber-security software two years ago, according to reports. From a report: The Russians were allegedly attempting to gather data on US intelligence programs, according to the New York Times and Washington Post. Israeli agents made the discovery after breaching the software themselves. Kaspersky has said it was neither involved in nor aware of the situation and denies collusion with authorities. Last month, the US government decided to stop using the Russian firm's software on its computers. The Israelis are said to have notified the US, which led to the ban on Kaspersky programs. The New York Times said that the situation had been described by "multiple people who have been briefed on the matter."

9 of 194 comments (clear)

  1. I don't know who's spying who by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So Israel was spying on the US and saw that Russia was spying on the US.
    Great. Wish they'd both die in a fire.

    1. Re:I don't know who's spying who by jedidiah · · Score: 5, Informative

      It's kind of like that time that particularly famous traitor aired our own dirty laundry and it turned out that we spy on all of our allies.

      --
      A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
    2. Re:I don't know who's spying who by nagora · · Score: 5, Insightful

      We need more traitors like him to protect us from assholes like you who would sell us all down the river for any bastard wrapped in a flag.

      --
      "Encyclopedia" is to "Wikipedia" what "Library" is to "Some people at a bus stop"
  2. Inb4 Russian apologists by Sarcasmooo! · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Here's an old story you might find apolitically interesting. We knew way before the election that Kaspersky was KGB trained and a Putin loyalist. You can read my comment history of you're an actual skeptic rather than a Russian botnik. But I also recommend anyone who doubts Putin's viciousness to hear the story of how he murdered his way into office from this PBS Documentary.

    As a sidenote, I'm a slashdot reader from more than a decade ago, and I've been really disappointed to see the amount of denialism present on this issue. I remember this as a place for pragmatic, intelligent, realistic people. And here's the reality: Putin is at war with you, he doesn't give a shit about you or your family or even his own citizens' families, and he actively hopes that you are confused about what he is doing, or denying it entirely.

  3. Occam's Razor by chill · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Kaspersky's AV solutions scan files, and transmit data back to their servers if found to be malware. If nothing else, they can send back lists of files on machines that are scanned, etc.

    The transmission is done thru TLS-encrypted channels.

    The Russian Government, like most major governments, do their best to monitor all of the traffic they can. See the recent Wikileaks documents on "Peter-Service" for some details.

    If the Russian gov't has obtained, one way or another, copies of Kaspersky's TLS keys, then they really don't need cooperation to see everything that's coming down the pipe. They can also probably MITM the connection and take control of the AV application, without Kaspersky's knowledge.

    It is called "plausible deniability" for Kaspersky and fairly trivial in a country where the use of strong encryption requires a license from the gov't.

    There are numerous current news articles about our (American) Justice Department is salivating over the possibility of that being possible in the U.S.

    --
    Learning HOW to think is more important than learning WHAT to think.
  4. Well, then... by lhowaf · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I trust(ed) Kaspersky more than the Senators bad-mouthing them. They look pretty bad in this light, though. Not because of collusion with the KGB but because their software can't, apparently, protect their own systems. So who can we trust, then? Symantec? McAfee? Windows Defender? Please. It looks like we either have to swallow the fact we're going to be entertaining uninvited guests or we'll have to try to live without our security blankets. It isn't so bad for /. readers but what about those friends and family who are more-and-more at risk? What a stinkhole we've made of the Internet.

  5. Re:Any AV vendor by houghi · · Score: 5, Funny

    The chances of there being two ticketing bombs on a plane are astronomical small, so I always take one with me, so we are all more secure.

    --
    Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
  6. No silver lining for Kaspersky by lbmouse · · Score: 5, Insightful

    No matter how you spin this there is no way for Kapersky to come out of this whole mess OK.

  7. Re:NPR advertising Kapersky this am by jellomizer · · Score: 5, Informative

    NPR does admit that Kapersky is an underwriter in their stories... They were also early to bring up the connection between them and the Russian government. It seems NPR is respectable enough to not let Kapersky money get in the way of good reporting.

    --
    If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.