I’m not old enough to remember the Red Scare of the 1950s, but it was a time where accusation, rumors actually, were enough to destroy careers and lives. Guilt was assumed and irrefutable.
The same tactics are being used against Kaspersky Lab today. I won’t dignify those reports with citation but we share the experience that none of them cite facts or evidence, only the desired conclusion, that Kaspersky Lab is suspect.
Neil J. Rubenking routs Kaspersky Lab critics with expert opinions and facts in: Should You Believe the Rumors About Kaspersky Lab?.
From the post:
If you accuse me of stealing your new car, I have a lot of options to prove my innocence. I was out of the country at the time of the alleged theft. I don’t have the car. Security cameras show it’s sitting in a garage. And so on.
But if you accuse me of hacking in and stealing the design documents for your new car, things get dicey, especially if you start a whispering campaign. Neil sometimes consorts with known hackers (true). Neil regularly meets with representatives of foreign companies (true). Neil maintains a collection of all kinds of malware, including ransomware and data-stealing Trojans (true). Neil has the programming skills to pull off this hack (I wish!).
After a while the original accusation doesn’t even matter; you’ve successfully damaged my reputation. And that’s exactly what seems to be happening with antivirus maker Kaspersky Lab.
You can find any number of news articles suggesting improper activities by Kaspersky Lab. The US government removed Kaspersky from its list of approved programs and, more recently, added it to a list of banned programs. Best Buy dropped Kaspersky products from its stores. Kaspersky has hired security experts who previously worked for the Russian government. Kaspersky is a Russian company, darn it!
The list goes on, but what’s impressively absent is any factual evidence of security-related misbehavior. To get a handle on this situation, I asked for thoughts from security experts I know, both in the US and around the world.
A moment of disclosure, first. While I wouldn’t say I know him well, I have certainly met Eugene Kaspersky and been impressed by his knowledge. I follow him on Twitter, and he follows me. I’ve even ridden a tour boat with Eugene (and others) into McCovey Cove during a Giants game. Go Giants!
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It’s a great post and one you should forward to Kaspersky critics, repeatedly.
As Rubenking mentions in his post, the Department of Homeland Security (sic): US government bans agencies from using Kaspersky software over spying fears:
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On Wednesday, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a directive, first reported by the Washington Post, calling on departments and agencies to identify any use of Kaspersky antivirus software and develop plans to remove them and replace them with alternatives within the next three months.
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Which sets a deadline of December 12, 2017 for federal agencies to abandon Kaspersky software.
That’s not a serious/realistic date but moving from known and poorly used software (Kaspersky) to unknown and poorly used software (to replace Kaspersky), can’t help but create opportunities for hackers.
The United States federal government maybe the first government to become completely transparent in fact, if not by intent.
Enjoy!