Kaspersky may share source code with US Government amid concerns that Russia has compromised...

[William Gayde]

With the recent coverage and scrutiny of Russia's possible influence on the US election and executive branch of the government, some tech companies have been feeling the heat as well. Kaspersky Lab, the well known creator of the Kaspersky Antivirus and Kaspersky Security Protection suite, has been under fire over possible a compromise of their source code by the Russian government. As such, CEO Eugene Kaspersky has offered to turn over that source code to the US Government in an effort to clear his name. In an interview with The AP he stated that "if the United States needs, we can disclose the source code." He is wiling to do anything "to prove that we don't behave maliciously."

Kaspersky Lab is based in Moscow and has faced skepticism the past few months over allegations of a close relationship to the Russian government. Eugene Kaspersky himself was educated at a KGB-backed school and still maintains ties to top government and intelligence officials. He has previously served with the Russian military intelligence organization as well. Adding to the issue, the FBI visited the homes of about a dozen US based employees to collect information on any connection between the software and Russian intelligence officials.

Typically speaking, software companies will do everything possible to secure their source code as the most valuable piece of intellectual property they own. Kaspersky's willingness to offer their code for auditing could indicate the seriousness of the situation. While there is no public evidence that the software has been compromised, Kaspersky products are still banned on all Department of Defense devices.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/69953-kaspersky-may-share-source-code-us-government-amid.html

 

[Uncle Al]

And yet another good reason I never used and will never use their products!

 

[amstech]

Pretty amazing, Kaspersky has been one of the very few that actually work and are worth paying for.
McAfee, Norton, Symantec, Avast, Komodo, ESET, etc have all been shown to be no better then Windows Defender in several penetration tests.

 

[Reehahs]

As long as US government does not add its own backdoor to the source code it should be fine.

 

[MoeJoe]

Was waiting for this type of action ...

And like others, I've avoided Kasper like the plague.

 

[NahNood]

And like others, I've avoided Kasper like the plague.

Be he's such a friendly ghost!

 

[Hexic]

Pretty amazing, Kaspersky has been one of the very few that actually work and are worth paying for.
McAfee, Norton, Symantec, Avast, Komodo, ESET, etc have all been shown to be no better then Windows Defender in several penetration tests.

I still enjoy Avast!, it's still among one of the best protection suites on the market today - and it's light on the system.

 

[Abraka]

Interesting. Will also the US producers share their source code with the rest of the world, so we can see the security holes sponsored by NSA?

 

[p51d007]

Great....no matter WHAT the government says, you know once ANYONE in the government gets its hands on the source code, one of the government alphabet agencies (FBI,CIA,NSA) will get their grubby paws on it.
Once that happens, who knows what that will tell them, or how they could use that information.
I mistrust the government (regardless of who's in the white house) more than I do hackers and some other
governments. The USA has fallen so far from what the Constitution says, I don't know if it could ever return to how it is SUPPOSE to be.
People gladly turn over their personal information all the time.

 

[Cold Canuck]

I've been using Kaspersky for a lot of years now, and compared to that snake-pit in Washington, I trust Kaspersky a whole lot more.

Kas' is a much faster, smaller footprint option to using things like McCoffee and Snorton's.
I simply won't use their junk...if Kas' left the US market because someone got in a xenophobic snit, I'd have to switch to...maybe ESET NOD32.