5 ms·

US “explodes” after Kaspersky closes “CIA Backdoor” embedded in all MS Software

61 points by snakeanus 9y ago

DiabloD3 9y ago
Can we get a more authoritative URL over this? If this is even remotely true, this is big news seeing as it'd imply the US government is waging war against Kaspersky by pressuring big box stores to yank Kaspersky off store shelves (tinfoil hat notwithstanding).
- cyberpunk 9y ago
  The article links to several el reg stories which seem to corroborate it: 1: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/09/08/microsoft_says_it_wont_fix_kernel_flaw_its_not_a_security_issue_apparently/ http://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/09/08/microsoft_says_it_wo... 2: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/06/28/kaspersky_lab_us_staff_questioned_by_fbi/ https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/06/28/kaspersky_lab_us_st... 3: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/09/08/best_buy_yanks_kaspersky_software/ https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/09/08/best_buy_yanks_kasp...
  - lostmsu 9y ago
    The first link actually talks about a non-issue. Antiviruses used undocumented Windows feature. That feature does not work like they thought. Microsoft won't fix it for them.
- losteric 9y ago
  I can't find an authoritative source on the claims of the "US exploding" in response to "Kaspersky closes CIA backdoor" * GSA already pulled it from their recommended list months ago: https://www.wired.com/story/why-the-us-government-shouldnt-ban-kaspersky-security-software/ https://www.wired.com/story/why-the-us-government-shouldnt-b... * Yes, a Senator was pushing for banning Kaspersky from government infrastructure: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/09/06/banning_kaspersky_from_us_govt_computers/ https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/09/06/banning_kaspersky_f... - not much traction yet * Best Buy, as of a couple days ago, was pulling Kaspersky out of fear of Russian influence: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-kasperskylab-best-buy/best-buy-stops-sale-of-russia-based-kaspersky-products-idUSKCN1BJ2M4 http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-kasperskylab-best-buy/... - so far they are alone Now look at the rest of this website and rank their trustworthiness from 1 to 10. Check out those drop-down menus at the top, the sidebar content, their other posts... how trustworthy is this site? This seems like click-bait lies at best. Shouldn't have made it to HN in the first place.
  - lj3 9y ago
    All of that only makes me more curious to see if its true. I've been down this road too many times. "The Government isn't doing X. You're a crazy conspiracy theorist." A few years later its revealed that not only is the government doing exactly that, but they're doing a lot more on top of that. This has happened more than a few times in the past 15 years. That doesn't mean that's what's happening here, but it does mean I'm not going to take your suggestion of 'how trustworthy does this feel?' very seriously.
Shank 9y ago
Given how much Kaspersky has done for the security and research community (the article lists several of their research projects and disclosures), it comes off as a bit paranoid not to trust their software on the basis that it's made in Russia. As far as I'm concerned, Kaspersky Lab has proven, time and time again, to be an agent for good, not ill. The Snowden leaks showed direct US government involvement with several tech giants, and yet we haven't blacklisted use of their products yet. Arguably, we "trust them more," but I think that trust is misplaced. Kaspersky, on the other hand, has earned a lot of trust by actively participating and engaging with the security community regularly.
regnull 9y ago
Ah, the "report circulating in the Kremlin today". Has to be true.
emerged 9y ago
https://breakingmalware.com/documentation/windows-pssetloadimagenotifyroutine-callbacks-good-bad-unclear-part-1/ https://breakingmalware.com/documentation/windows-pssetloadi... For the full technical details.
godelski 9y ago
I have a hard time taking this website seriously. There are a ton of anti-semitic "resources" listed. https://screenshots.firefox.com/jf2JY3rYUwAI6ZaZ/theunhivedmind.com https://screenshots.firefox.com/jf2JY3rYUwAI6ZaZ/theunhivedm... https://screenshots.firefox.com/9ThjB3mgov2gKcUM/theunhivedmind.com https://screenshots.firefox.com/9ThjB3mgov2gKcUM/theunhivedm... I'm not going to take a website seriously if it is denying the holocaust.
dvfjsdhgfv 9y ago
The author updated the post [1] with " It details a workaround for this bug, again, not a vulnerability." [1] https://breakingmalware.com/documentation/windows-pssetloadimagenotifyroutine-callbacks-good-bad-unclear-part-1/ https://breakingmalware.com/documentation/windows-pssetloadi...
narrator 9y ago
This is a Sorcha Faal article. Sorcha is a well known hoaxer. http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Sorcha_Faal http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Sorcha_Faal . Even on conspiracy forums, when the author of some report is found out to be Sorcha Faal the thread usually ends as that guy has been hoaxing conspiracy theorists with plausible sounding made up articles for at least a decade if not longer.
driverdan 9y ago
I'm surprised this got so many upvotes before it was flagged. The site is off the rails crazy and doesn't cite sources for its primary claim.

61 points by snakeanus 9y ago

Can we get a more authoritative URL over this? If this is even remotely true, this is big news seeing as it'd imply the US government is waging war against Kaspersky by pressuring big box stores to yank Kaspersky off store shelves (tinfoil hat notwithstanding).

cyberpunk 9y ago
The article links to several el reg stories which seem to corroborate it: 1: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/09/08/microsoft_says_it_wont_fix_kernel_flaw_its_not_a_security_issue_apparently/ http://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/09/08/microsoft_says_it_wo... 2: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/06/28/kaspersky_lab_us_staff_questioned_by_fbi/ https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/06/28/kaspersky_lab_us_st... 3: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/09/08/best_buy_yanks_kaspersky_software/ https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/09/08/best_buy_yanks_kasp...
- lostmsu 9y ago
  The first link actually talks about a non-issue. Antiviruses used undocumented Windows feature. That feature does not work like they thought. Microsoft won't fix it for them.
losteric 9y ago
I can't find an authoritative source on the claims of the "US exploding" in response to "Kaspersky closes CIA backdoor" * GSA already pulled it from their recommended list months ago: https://www.wired.com/story/why-the-us-government-shouldnt-ban-kaspersky-security-software/ https://www.wired.com/story/why-the-us-government-shouldnt-b... * Yes, a Senator was pushing for banning Kaspersky from government infrastructure: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/09/06/banning_kaspersky_from_us_govt_computers/ https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/09/06/banning_kaspersky_f... - not much traction yet * Best Buy, as of a couple days ago, was pulling Kaspersky out of fear of Russian influence: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-kasperskylab-best-buy/best-buy-stops-sale-of-russia-based-kaspersky-products-idUSKCN1BJ2M4 http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-kasperskylab-best-buy/... - so far they are alone Now look at the rest of this website and rank their trustworthiness from 1 to 10. Check out those drop-down menus at the top, the sidebar content, their other posts... how trustworthy is this site? This seems like click-bait lies at best. Shouldn't have made it to HN in the first place.
- lj3 9y ago
  All of that only makes me more curious to see if its true. I've been down this road too many times. "The Government isn't doing X. You're a crazy conspiracy theorist." A few years later its revealed that not only is the government doing exactly that, but they're doing a lot more on top of that. This has happened more than a few times in the past 15 years. That doesn't mean that's what's happening here, but it does mean I'm not going to take your suggestion of 'how trustworthy does this feel?' very seriously.

Shank 9y ago

Given how much Kaspersky has done for the security and research community (the article lists several of their research projects and disclosures), it comes off as a bit paranoid not to trust their software on the basis that it's made in Russia. As far as I'm concerned, Kaspersky Lab has proven, time and time again, to be an agent for good, not ill. The Snowden leaks showed direct US government involvement with several tech giants, and yet we haven't blacklisted use of their products yet. Arguably, we "trust them more," but I think that trust is misplaced. Kaspersky, on the other hand, has earned a lot of trust by actively participating and engaging with the security community regularly.

regnull 9y ago

Ah, the "report circulating in the Kremlin today". Has to be true.

emerged 9y ago

https://breakingmalware.com/documentation/windows-pssetloadimagenotifyroutine-callbacks-good-bad-unclear-part-1/ https://breakingmalware.com/documentation/windows-pssetloadi... For the full technical details.

godelski 9y ago

I have a hard time taking this website seriously. There are a ton of anti-semitic "resources" listed. https://screenshots.firefox.com/jf2JY3rYUwAI6ZaZ/theunhivedmind.com https://screenshots.firefox.com/jf2JY3rYUwAI6ZaZ/theunhivedm... https://screenshots.firefox.com/9ThjB3mgov2gKcUM/theunhivedmind.com https://screenshots.firefox.com/9ThjB3mgov2gKcUM/theunhivedm... I'm not going to take a website seriously if it is denying the holocaust.

dvfjsdhgfv 9y ago

The author updated the post [1] with " It details a workaround for this bug, again, not a vulnerability." [1] https://breakingmalware.com/documentation/windows-pssetloadimagenotifyroutine-callbacks-good-bad-unclear-part-1/ https://breakingmalware.com/documentation/windows-pssetloadi...

narrator 9y ago

This is a Sorcha Faal article. Sorcha is a well known hoaxer. http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Sorcha_Faal http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Sorcha_Faal . Even on conspiracy forums, when the author of some report is found out to be Sorcha Faal the thread usually ends as that guy has been hoaxing conspiracy theorists with plausible sounding made up articles for at least a decade if not longer.

driverdan 9y ago

I'm surprised this got so many upvotes before it was flagged. The site is off the rails crazy and doesn't cite sources for its primary claim.