Years ago, I developed a presentation called “Four Things You Need to Do to Your Computer Today” — a baseline security presentation that talked about the importance of Windows updates, firewalls, and malware protection. I would list recommended tools based on the latest reviews, and in 2007, the highest reviewed anti-virus program was Kaspersky. In September, the Trump administration directed civilian agencies to remove Kaspersky software from their systems, and last week, this directive was signed into law and extended to military networks as well.
- Trump signs into law U.S. government ban on Kaspersky Lab software [Reuters | John Brodkin] “‘The case against Kaspersky is well-documented and deeply concerning. This law is long overdue,’ said Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen, who led calls in Congress to scrub the software from government computers. She added that the company’s software represented a ‘grave risk’ to U.S. national security.”
- Court document points to Kaspersky Lab’s cooperation with Russian security service [Washington Post | Ellen Nakashima] “The company’s founder, Eugene Kaspersky, graduated from a KGB-supported cryptography school and had worked in Russian military intelligence. He insists the firm has ‘never helped’ espionage agencies.”
- Kaspersky Lab: D.C. office ‘no longer viable’ and will close [TechCrunch | Taylor Hatmaker] “While Kaspersky is a multinational company with contracts and sales around the globe, the decision to shutter its D.C. office shows that its stateside federal contracting business is truly drying up in the wake of warnings from the U.S. government.”
- Kaspersky sues DHS over Federal blacklist [Ars Technica | Cyrus Favivar] “Specifically, Kaspersky says that, due to the way DHS’s Binding Operational Directive (BOD) was issued, the company didn’t have adequate time to respond to the government’s concerns, which immediately had a deleterious effect on its business.“
From the Ohio Web Library:
- Five Top Mac Antivirus Protection Products. (PC Magazine, Sept. 2017, pp. 86-92. | Carolyn Puckett)
- Kaspersky Alleges Microsoft’s Windows Defender Is Anti-Competitive. (Eweek, 14 Nov. 2016, p. 5. | Sean Michael Kerner)
- Eugene Kaspersky Virus Hunter. (Wired, vol. 20, no. 8, Aug. 2012, p. 86. | Noah Schachtman)
