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Kaspersky is declared a US national security threat and is banned by the FCC

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Re: Kaspersky is declared a US national security threat and is banned by the FCC

#71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s a thing in big orgs, where macros are enabled in excel and employees can be tricked into opening mail attachments. Windows defender should suffice, but like you said, from a compliance/insurance perspective it may me valuable to say “look, we scanned for signatures according to the latest knowledge of [insert vendor]”. Personally I think that it’s ridiculous that these huge orgs fail to address the actual underl…

I would really hope my organization doesn't start blanket banning excel macros for "security". It'll be a huge blow to productivity for several.

Draconian bans probably aren't the best way to achieve it, but if it's productivity your org wants they should concentrate on migrating those workflows out of Excel ASAP.

Re: Kaspersky is declared a US national security threat and is banned by the FCC

#72

Ok, let's cut the crap. Is Kaspersky a dirtbag or not? I suspect not, but it is an unfortunate accident he was born in and runs his company from Russia, the government of which is a dirtbag, so, correct me if I am wrong, Kaspersky must be a dirtbag by association, but especially for discovering Stuxnet. Believable, but I think the real reasons Kaspersky is persona non grata is due to having discovered Stuxnet, and Ka…

The sanctions in question are against Kaspersky Labs the company, not Eugene Kaspersky the man. Frankly none of the analysis involves a decision as to whether he is a "dirtbag", by association or not. It's just that there's no way anyone can reasonably trust "security" software produced by entities in a totalitarian state, especially so when it's at war.

Re: Kaspersky is declared a US national security threat and is banned by the FCC

#73
post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have also been amused by the number of technical people that prefer Telegram vs Whatsapp in terms of security.

> Telegram vs Whatsapp in terms of security. The 3-letter US agencies do not have direct access to Telegram's servers, they do have when it comes to Whatsapp (or to any other US-based company). The same goes if you're a Russian doing anti-government stuff in, well, Russia, it's better to put your fate in Whatsapp's (and Meta's) hands, presumably the US agencies won't come after you for being against the Russian gover…

> The 3-letter US agencies do not have direct access to Telegram's servers

What makes you think so?

Re: Kaspersky is declared a US national security threat and is banned by the FCC

#74

Ok, let's cut the crap. Is Kaspersky a dirtbag or not? I suspect not, but it is an unfortunate accident he was born in and runs his company from Russia, the government of which is a dirtbag, so, correct me if I am wrong, Kaspersky must be a dirtbag by association, but especially for discovering Stuxnet. Believable, but I think the real reasons Kaspersky is persona non grata is due to having discovered Stuxnet, and Ka…

Even american security companies have ties to the intelligence community. Kaspersky is no different. In most countries private sector pays more so state hackers work at places like Crowdstrike or Kaspersky after some time. Their relationship with the IC helps develop and share intelligence both ways.

Re: Kaspersky is declared a US national security threat and is banned by the FCC

#75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Very likely, being founded and run by Russians... and a good way to stop people from communicating freely about the world affairs.

Russian citizens != Russian government. The Telegram development team is not on good terms with the Russian government last I read. With that said, it still operates within the borders so it's subject to government control (just as any US-based messaging service is subject to US government control). It's always a cat-and-mouse game between those who want free, unfettered, unmonitored communications and the government…

You are thinking from a completely different perspective.

There's nothing for governments to allow people to communicate freely. Telegram is one of the few platforms that allows that... and this is a good opportunity for the US government to do that.

Re: Kaspersky is declared a US national security threat and is banned by the FCC

#76
post #72

Ok, let's cut the crap. Is Kaspersky a dirtbag or not? I suspect not, but it is an unfortunate accident he was born in and runs his company from Russia, the government of which is a dirtbag, so, correct me if I am wrong, Kaspersky must be a dirtbag by association, but especially for discovering Stuxnet. Believable, but I think the real reasons Kaspersky is persona non grata is due to having discovered Stuxnet, and Ka…

The sanctions in question are against Kaspersky Labs the company, not Eugene Kaspersky the man. Frankly none of the analysis involves a decision as to whether he is a "dirtbag", by association or not. It's just that there's no way anyone can reasonably trust "security" software produced by entities in a totalitarian state, especially so when it's at war.

Thanks for the clarification.

So it is not a situation were we have actual evidence of dirtbaggery against the company, but that we are rationally paranoid that Kaspersky Lab could somehow steal our Pokemons.

Re: Kaspersky is declared a US national security threat and is banned by the FCC

#77

Ok, let's cut the crap. Is Kaspersky a dirtbag or not? I suspect not, but it is an unfortunate accident he was born in and runs his company from Russia, the government of which is a dirtbag, so, correct me if I am wrong, Kaspersky must be a dirtbag by association, but especially for discovering Stuxnet. Believable, but I think the real reasons Kaspersky is persona non grata is due to having discovered Stuxnet, and Ka…

I thought the question was much older than stuxnet?

Re: Kaspersky is declared a US national security threat and is banned by the FCC

#78
post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s a good question for the Windows ecosystem, because it was absolutely necessary for Windows 7 and earlier, but I haven’t used later versions. I’ve been using Linux/Mac exclusively for the past 10 years and never even considered it.

Then you are lucky not to work in companies where IT security policies apply to everyone regardless of the OS being used.

>IT security policies apply

Insecurity policies is correct, what you mean is protecting managers a* aka the antivirus failed on us ;)

Re: Kaspersky is declared a US national security threat and is banned by the FCC

#79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Very likely, being founded and run by Russians... and a good way to stop people from communicating freely about the world affairs.

Russian citizens != Russian government. The Telegram development team is not on good terms with the Russian government last I read. With that said, it still operates within the borders so it's subject to government control (just as any US-based messaging service is subject to US government control). It's always a cat-and-mouse game between those who want free, unfettered, unmonitored communications and the government…

Last I read Telegram is on very good terms with the Russian government. I have already posted link to the source in this thread.

Re: Kaspersky is declared a US national security threat and is banned by the FCC

#80
post #63

Ok, let's cut the crap. Is Kaspersky a dirtbag or not? I suspect not, but it is an unfortunate accident he was born in and runs his company from Russia, the government of which is a dirtbag, so, correct me if I am wrong, Kaspersky must be a dirtbag by association, but especially for discovering Stuxnet. Believable, but I think the real reasons Kaspersky is persona non grata is due to having discovered Stuxnet, and Ka…

Plenty of legit potential concerns.. Russian govt could "nationalize" Kaspersky at any moment and push rogue updates.

Shouldnt i have the same concerns with software from the US? You dont really have to nationalize to force devs to push malicious code (looking at you Australia)
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