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Kaspersky Lab Banned From Advertising on Twitter Because of Its Alleged Ties With Russian Intelligence Agencies (cyberscoop.com)

Posted by msmash on from the tussle-continues dept.

An anonymous reader shares a report: Russian cybersecurity company Kaspersky Lab has been banned from advertising on Twitter due to its allegedly close and active ties between the company and Russian intelligence agencies, according to the social network. The ban is the latest blow in an ongoing saga for Kaspersky, which includes two ongoing legal battles with the U.S. government. Eugene Kaspersky, CEO of Kaspersky Lab, took to Twitter on Friday to condemn the ban. A Twitter spokesperson reiterated that the "decision is based on our determination that Kaspersky Lab operates using a business model that inherently conflicts with acceptable Twitter Ads business practices."

45 comments

  1. What, they're profitable? by xxxJonBoyxxx · · Score: 4, Informative

    >> Kaspersky Lab operates using a business model that inherently conflicts with acceptable Twitter Ads business practices

    What, they're profitable? (ducks)

    1. Re:What, they're profitable? by Humbubba · · Score: 1
      Fear of Kaspersky Lab's alleged ties to Russian Intelligence has raised the FUD* in me. If this is fake news, kudos to whoever for making malware that this antivirus company can't protect itself from.

      *FUD - Fear, Uncertainity and Doubt.

  2. If you're a Russian company ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If you're a Russian company, located in Russia, it would be almost impossible to believe you're not complicit with the Russian government.

    Likewise, if you're an American company, located in the US, it would also be impossible to believe you're not complicit with the American government.

    Because both governments have shown they're more than willing to engage/force tech companies to play ball.

    Kaspersky may well be completely above board, but it's impossible to verify that.

    1. Re:If you're a Russian company ... by oh_my_080980980 · · Score: 1

      Ah guilty until proven innocent...

    2. Re:If you're a Russian company ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Also a national cybersecurity company might just be useful to the technological segments of said nation if they want to their technologies be secure.

    3. Re: If you're a Russian company ... by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 1

      I want Twitter to state that they're not under any NSL's currently.

      --
      My God, it's Full of Source!
      OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
    4. Re:If you're a Russian company ... by jarkus4 · · Score: 2

      Nope: guilty forever as you cant prove that something does not exist.

    5. Re:If you're a Russian company ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ah guilty until proven innocent...

      No, just impossible to verify. So if you have to be security paranoid, and you have no way to verify, you have to come down on the side of assuming it's not safe.

      I wouldn't run an antivurus software made by a Chinese company either. I don't trust anybody's "cloud". And far more of my security comes from plain old fashioned distrust and not doing stuff than it does from software. That "firewall"/router my ISP provides me? I assume that is useless shit and put my own firewalls behind it.

      Computer security, and indeed protection from phishing and scams over the phone, requires a level of paranoia which not too long ago would have earned a clinical diagnosis.

      These days, assuming every email, hyperlink, and phone call has a high chance of being outright fraudulent is perfectly reasonable.

      You want to run a security product put out by a Russian company who you have no way of verifying their claims they're not under the sway of the Russian government? Please, do so as much as you please.

      I'm not saying they're guilty, I'm saying absent any mechanism to validate anything, what other conclusion can you make? "Probably safe" won't cut it for me.

    6. Re: If you're a Russian company ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They can claim that, doesn't mean it's true. That's part of operating under an NSL. You cannot disclose that you are operating under an NSL.

      Welcome to overzealous governmental intrusions that would do Orwell proud (on both sides of the Atlantic).

      Captcha Word: despots

    7. Re: If you're a Russian company ... by RandomFactor · · Score: 1

      I want Twitter to state that they're not under any NSL's currently.

      Chances of Twitter not being under multiple NSLs approaches zero, so I doubt they'll ever make such a statement truthfully. (The ambiguous reference works either way.)

      --
      --- Mercutio was right.
  3. The way I see it... by admin7087 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Probably they have ties with Russian intelligence agencies, but they also seem to have pissed off American intelligence agencies by detecting their spyware or not "collaborating" with them...

    1. Re:The way I see it... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      they also seem to have pissed off American intelligence agencies by detecting their spyware or not "collaborating" with them...

      Bingo! And that is precisely why I use Kaspersky software. They simply must be better for me if they have western officials in such a lather.

      Makes me wonder what's really happening with Symantec, McAfee, Trend, etc.

    2. Re:The way I see it... by skids · · Score: 1

      And that is precisely why I use Kaspersky software.

      Something something frying pan something fire something.... dammit... now I want bacon!

      --
      Someone had to do it.
    3. Re:The way I see it... by tinkerton · · Score: 1

      It's a worthy goal to 'baconify' discussion threads so that as many people as possible end up thinking about bacon.

    4. Re:The way I see it... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Damn Skippy, my pork futures are looking better by the thread.

    5. Re:The way I see it... by AHuxley · · Score: 1

      1+ for why I use Kaspersky. Support the brands that help the world find and understand https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
      Stuxnet
      Flame
      Equation Group https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
      Android cyber-espionage by 60 governments.

      --
      Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
  4. A sudden disturbance in the twitterverse by RandomFactor · · Score: 3, Insightful

    As if millions of voices on social media censored without obvious cause or recourse cried out in sympathy and were suddenly silenced.

    "Kaspersky Lab considers this action â" an advertising ban without any valid reasoning or evidence of misconductâ" as being contradictory to Twitterâ(TM)s principles for freedom of expression. Therefore, the company is calling on Twitter to provide a more specific and detailed explanation of its decision,â

    --
    --- Mercutio was right.
    1. Re:A sudden disturbance in the twitterverse by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The solution is easy.

      Get off of PRISM platform's.

    2. Re: A sudden disturbance in the twitterverse by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Funny you should suggest that.


      Russia blocks Google, Amazon IP addresses in bid to ban Telegram

    3. Re: A sudden disturbance in the twitterverse by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-telegram-ipaddresses/russia-blocks-google-amazon-ip-addresses-in-bid-to-ban-telegram-idUSKBN1HO1WM

  5. Exactly. That's why you should use... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    ...an AV that is not beholden to any government, whether Russian, American, etc. They can all be strong armed by their government into compromising your security. The solution?

    Open source AV. The Founding Fathers would have used this.

    That is all.

    1. Re: Exactly. That's why you should use... by xxxJonBoyxxx · · Score: 1

      Plus invaded the country that wrote the viruses, knocked them back to the stone age, and hauled their trophies home. (See "Barbary Pirates", etc.) So yes, FF/OS FTW.

    2. Re:Exactly. That's why you should use... by ckatko · · Score: 1

      > The Founding Fathers would have used this.

      That's an odd plug.

    3. Re:Exactly. That's why you should use... by Riceballsan · · Score: 2

      While I can agree with you... from what I've heard clamAV isn't anywhere near ready to be a main use AV, We really do need a good player in that field

    4. Re:Exactly. That's why you should use... by adri · · Score: 1

      wait, still? how long has it been?

    5. Re:Exactly. That's why you should use... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Were Ben Franklin and Marie Antoinette lovers?

  6. What Exactly Have they Done? by i_ate_god · · Score: 2

    I've seen a lot of controversy surrounding this company, but I have yet to see anything conclusive that says they relaying information back to Russian authorities.

    --
    I'm god, but it's a bit of a drag really...
    1. Re: What Exactly Have they Done? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There isnâ(TM)t anything. The original complaint against kapersky came from Symantec. They were unhappy that kapersky were starting to gain significant US market share with a product that was a lot better than the norton av shit they were trying to sell

    2. Re:What Exactly Have they Done? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Even if they were, Twitter doesn't ban other companies which do the same thing (and they themselves are used by government services to spy on people). So WTF? My only guesses are some employees at Twitter are full of themselves, have too much time on their hands and are attempting to justify their existence, or another AV company either quietly convinced Twitter this would be a good idea or paid them to do so.

    3. Re:What Exactly Have they Done? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      One of the little reported Snowden Leak facts is that the government secret plant in various companies on the government payroll. It's likely that some such plant is just waging the Intel Community's Jihad on KAV because of Kaspersky's insistence on not whitelisting their malware from their scanners. Every time these proxies lash out at KAV makes me trust KAV more.

    4. Re:What Exactly Have they Done? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Plausible deniability is how things work here in the US. The CEO of the company can come out in all honesty and say they don't pass on information to Russian intelligence agencies but that doesn't mean it isn't happening.

    5. Re:What Exactly Have they Done? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I've seen a lot of controversy surrounding this company, but I have yet to see anything conclusive that says they relaying information back to Russian authorities.

      Probably nothing, but you can say Apple who denied requests to the U.S. agencies to install a backdoor has no ties either. Yet, GrayShift's GreyKey which unlocks iPhones makes a sudden appearance from nowhere and their tech is powered by ex-Apple engineers. Adding to that Apple hasn't made the maximum effort to shut it down either doesn't make Apple conclusively cooperating with US agencies.

    6. Re:What Exactly Have they Done? by AHuxley · · Score: 1

      The ability to see nation created malware and report on it in near real time.
      That needs a lot of users in the USA, Canada, the UK, Russia, Japan, the EU as way of detecting regional differences in real time.
      What the US, UK gov will use globally as malware but trust in their own nations would stand out.
      The regional collect it all efforts.
      What gov bailed malware, network patterns is not out in the wild in the USA, 5 eye nations then becomes what stands out globally.
      Understanding the internet, the movement of malware results by governments is not something the NSA, GCHQ wants to emerge as a real time protective product for consumers world wide.

      --
      Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
  7. Government Complicity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Given all the hand-wringing over Kaspersky, the silence regarding other vendors (Symantec, McAfee, Trend Micro, et al) is absolutely deafening.

  8. Rename the U.S. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    U.S.Americans need to rename their country from "United State Of America" to "United State Of Paranoia",
    is reaching lunacy levels, they are seeing enemies everywhere.

    1. Re:Rename the U.S. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      because fundamentally they are cowards who think they are heroes, a third world country in a posh suit

  9. Democrats are persistent by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Climate Change
    Russian Influence
    etc

    At least you morons are persistent.

  10. So.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    How many US defense contractors advertise at Twitter?

  11. US keeps advertising Kaspersky products by ffkom · · Score: 1

    to users everywhere outside of the US. Because the only plausible reason why Kaspersky is so massively attacked by the US is that it competes with the NSA trojans sold by US companies. Given the historically experienced economic impact of US espionage across the globe, I will probably prefer to be spyed upon by Russia or China.

  12. Popcorn Time! by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

    Slashdot will go Nucking fiuts over this. Tequila shots with ya popcorn anyone?

    --
    The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
  13. If your product is too good by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    then expect U.S. protectionism to come at you. Twitter is a mouth-piece for American propaganda as well, so not entirely expected. They'll do whatever Uncle Sam asks of them.

  14. The hell with Twitter by AndyKron · · Score: 1

    Why would anybody waste their time on that censored piece of crap Twitter?

    1. Re:The hell with Twitter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why would anybody waste their time on that censored piece of crap Twitter?

      So that one may savour the delicious, salty tears of the alt-right chuds when they get themselves banned.

      Let me know if you have any other questions.

  15. Does kaspersky collaborate with their gov? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Probably, but we can't be sure. However we have just got our evidence that twitter cooperates with theirs.