Kaspersky Lab is moving some operations to Switzerland as it looks to regain consumers'...

[midian182]

Moscow-based security software giant Kaspersky Lab is once again trying to win back the trust of consumers. This time, the company is moving some of its infrastructure from Russia to Switzerland in a bid to address claims that it had built back-doors into its software, thereby allowing Russian intelligence agents to spy on the US.

Kaspersky said "a number of core processes" will move from Russia, including customer data storage systems and processing "for most regions." It added that Switzerland was chosen for its “policy of neutrality” and strong data protection laws.

Last year’s allegations over Kaspersky’s close ties to Russian spy agencies led to the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) banning the company from the government’s approved vendors list. Retailers such as Best Buy also stopped selling Kaspersky products. The company strongly disputed the claims; it offered to share its source code with the government and filed a lawsuit against the ban.

“We’re addressing the question of trust by moving our data storage and processing facilities, as well as software assembly, to Switzerland,” Eugene Kaspersky, company founder and CEO, told Reuters.

“The data of our customers from the U.S., Europe, Japan, Korea, Singapore and Australia will henceforth be stored and processed in Switzerland. More countries will follow.”

The move is part of Kaspersky Lab’s transparency initiative that it launched in October last year. Other aspects of the plan include an independent review of its source code by an “internationally recognized authority,” an independent review of Kaspersky's internal process, and increased payouts for its bug bounty program. The company also said it was creating three transparency labs across the world, “enabling clients, government bodies & concerned organizations to review source code, update code and threat detection rules.”

An unnamed Swiss-based independent third party will oversee the transfer of Kaspersky’s systems and data to Switzerland. Kaspersky said it also intends to relocate the tools used to assemble software to Zurich by the end of this year.

“Trust is essential in cybersecurity, and Kaspersky Lab understands that trust is not a given; it must be repeatedly earned through transparency and accountability,” said the company.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/74630-kaspersky-lab-moving-operations-switzerland-looks-regain-consumers.html

 

[Uncle Al]

I would seriously doubt they will every regain the US Govt. trust, nor most Americans again. Their Russian ties are simply too strong and undeniable .....

 

[Puiu]

Too little too late.

 

[wiyosaya]

Personally, I do not see how this would better their reputation. Just because you move operations to another country does not mean that you will have ceased all spying operations that you might have been engaged in. They need much more than this to clear up their reputation.

 

[MoeJoe]

Europeans will take this as a good sign... Americans not so much.

 

[merikafyeah]

"Alleged" Russian government shenanigans aside, Kaspersky still makes one of the best antivirus solutions available, and it's free too. Every other free antivirus either has "upgrade" ads, limited features, or is just not as effective.

 

[MoeJoe]

"Alleged" Russian government shenanigans aside, Kaspersky still makes one of the best antivirus solutions available, and it's free too. Every other free antivirus either has "upgrade" ads, limited features, or is just not as effective.

Total shill for the cause and compares Crapersky to other crap-ware for a basis.
Anyone who makes an argument based upon "Every other..." lost credibility at the door.

 

[merikafyeah]

Total shill for the cause and compares Crapersky to other crap-ware for a basis.
Anyone who makes an argument based upon "Every other..." lost credibility at the door.

What free antiviruses are better than Kaspersky and what metrics do you use to support your claims?
My claims are supported by the following objective facts:
1. Kaspersky is one of the most effective antiviruses as it consistently receives among the highest scores from AV-TEST.
2. Kaspersky does not contain ads and has all the features you'd expect from an antivirus at no cost.

Forget free programs, Kaspersky Free is better than most PAID antiviruses too.
And even IF Kaspersky was exfiltrating all user data straight to the FSB that would require an outbound connection sending a very conspicuous amount of data. It would be impossible to miss in a firewall log. Blocking all outbound traffic from Kaspersky is also a trivial thing to do.

And forget what Kaspersky is "allegedly" doing, is your memory so short that you forget what the NSA has already confirmed to have been doing for over a decade? (and still continues to do so) Secret FISA courts ring a bell? Kafka turns in his grave at all the absurdities that even he could not imagine which exist in our present mass surveillance, zero-due-process reality.

Ask yourself does it really make a difference to the average person whether their data is collected en masse by the NSA or the FSB or maybe even China? In the U.S. foreign invaders are the least of our concerns.

"Shall we expect some transatlantic military giant to step the ocean and crush us at a blow? Never! All the armies of Europe, Asia, and Africa combined, with all the treasure of the earth (our own excepted) in their military chest, with a Bonaparte for a commander, could not by force take a drink from the Ohio or make a track on the Blue Ridge in a trial of a thousand years. At what point then is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer. If it ever reach us it must spring up amongst us; it cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time or die by suicide."
- Abraham Lincoln

 

[GNelson]

Good Software overall but stupid company doing stupid things. I use 3 different packages one on each group of machines this way if one gets it maybe the others will help clean things up. I guess putting all your eggs in one basket holds true with Antivirus doesn't it. Now being American I will stay away from them because until they have a larger location in the US they aren't bring or supporting the many that pay the bills. I agree that any company taking data from an end user should be dropped if that data is known to collect items other then metrix to improve the software.

 

[MoeJoe]

Total shill for the cause and compares Crapersky to other crap-ware for a basis.
Anyone who makes an argument based upon "Every other..." lost credibility at the door.

What free antiviruses are better than Kaspersky and what metrics do you use to support your claims?
My claims are supported by the following objective facts:
1. Kaspersky is one of the most effective antiviruses as it consistently receives among the highest scores from AV-TEST.
2. Kaspersky does not contain ads and has all the features you'd expect from an antivirus at no cost.

Forget free programs, Kaspersky Free is better than most PAID antiviruses too.
And even IF Kaspersky was exfiltrating all user data straight to the FSB that would require an outbound connection sending a very conspicuous amount of data. It would be impossible to miss in a firewall log. Blocking all outbound traffic from Kaspersky is also a trivial thing to do.

And forget what Kaspersky is "allegedly" doing, is your memory so short that you forget what the NSA has already confirmed to have been doing for over a decade? (and still continues to do so) Secret FISA courts ring a bell? Kafka turns in his grave at all the absurdities that even he could not imagine which exist in our present mass surveillance, zero-due-process reality.

Ask yourself does it really make a difference to the average person whether their data is collected en masse by the NSA or the FSB or maybe even China? In the U.S. foreign invaders are the least of our concerns.

"Shall we expect some transatlantic military giant to step the ocean and crush us at a blow? Never! All the armies of Europe, Asia, and Africa combined, with all the treasure of the earth (our own excepted) in their military chest, with a Bonaparte for a commander, could not by force take a drink from the Ohio or make a track on the Blue Ridge in a trial of a thousand years. At what point then is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer. If it ever reach us it must spring up amongst us; it cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time or die by suicide."
- Abraham Lincoln

LOL!

 

[psycros]

I would seriously doubt they will every regain the US Govt. trust, nor most Americans again. Their Russian ties are simply too strong and undeniable .....

Really? I'm still waiting for proof because I've seen it offered nowhere.

 

[merikafyeah]

Really? I'm still waiting for proof because I've seen it offered nowhere.

Precisely. And a clear distinction must be made between government vs government affairs and general public affairs.
Other governments have suspicions (but no direct evidence) linking Kaspersky to the FSB so they have a reasonable cause for banning use of Kaspersky products in government systems, but as for the general public? Not so much. Kaspersky was, and to this day remains, one of the most competent security products on the market and decades of history and third-party tests unanimously support this statement.

And between Equifax, Facebook, and the NSA, (and hundreds of other breaches) the U.S. public literally has nothing left to give to the FSB that they haven't already given away.
That should be the only important takeaway from this whole Kaspersky smear fiasco. "It's the Russians! It's always the Russians! Except when it's the Chinese!" Seriously guys.