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Basically. I've seen what now looks like state sponsored bullshit blogs posing as tin foil hatters being posted to HN saying Kaspersky is part of the Russian i

Basically. I've seen what now looks like state sponsored bullshit blogs posing as tin foil hatters being posted to HN saying Kaspersky is part of the Russian intelligence apparatus, and that's why the US government pressured stores to remove Kaspersky AV from store shelves, etc etc etc. Most likely, they did their job, and they did it correctly. The NSA can't really defeat competent AV researchers who aren't even looking at the NSA in the first place.

neuronexmachina 9y ago
The DHS is "tin foil hatters"? https://www.dhs.gov/news/2017/09/13/dhs-statement-issuance-binding-operational-directive-17-01 https://www.dhs.gov/news/2017/09/13/dhs-statement-issuance-b... > The Department is concerned about the ties between certain Kaspersky officials and Russian intelligence and other government agencies, and requirements under Russian law that allow Russian intelligence agencies to request or compel assistance from Kaspersky and to intercept communications transiting Russian networks. The risk that the Russian government, whether acting on its own or in collaboration with Kaspersky, could capitalize on access provided by Kaspersky products to compromise federal information and information systems directly implicates U.S. national security.
- KGIII 9y ago
  > The DHS is "tin foil hatters"? Yes? To be fair, that is kind of their job. I don't suppose their precept says that they should be paranoid and believing in conspiracy theories - in those exact words. But, that seems to be how it is manifest.
openasocket 9y ago
Kaspersky is pretty well known to have a close relationship with the Russian government, though. Hell, Kaspersky himself used to work for Soviet military intelligence. There's several articles cited here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaspersky_Lab#Allegations_of_ties_to_the_Russian_government https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaspersky_Lab#Allegations_of_t... I'm not saying Kaspersky is a part of the Russian intelligence apparatus, but I wouldn't trust them to report on Fancy Bear campaigns, nor would I trust their AV software if I were a particularly juicy target.
- Bendingo 9y ago
  > Kaspersky himself used to work for Soviet military intelligence This is straight up not true. He studied at an institute that was administered by the KGB.
- lawnchair_larry 9y ago
  They are not known for any such thing, and Eugene did not work for military intelligence. He has addressed this many times.
tptacek 9y ago
Whatever the "bullshit blogs" might be (I haven't noticed these stories, but maybe you can provide links?), they're in good company now, because that's more or less the story the NYT, WSJ, and WaPo have developed.
- Natsu 9y ago
  There's not a lot of attribution going on here, though. Take the WaPo story, they just tell us what's possible and leave us to draw conclusions ourselves - “That’s the crux of the matter,” said one industry official who received the briefing. “Whether Kaspersky is working directly for the Russian government or not doesn’t matter; their Internet service providers are subject to monitoring. So virtually anything shared with Kaspersky could become the property of the Russian government.” Late last month, the National Intelligence Council completed a classified report that it shared with NATO allies concluding that the FSB had “probable access” to Kaspersky customer databases and source code. That access, it concluded, could help enable cyberattacks against U.S. government, commercial and industrial control networks.

neuronexmachina 9y ago

The DHS is "tin foil hatters"? https://www.dhs.gov/news/2017/09/13/dhs-statement-issuance-binding-operational-directive-17-01 https://www.dhs.gov/news/2017/09/13/dhs-statement-issuance-b... > The Department is concerned about the ties between certain Kaspersky officials and Russian intelligence and other government agencies, and requirements under Russian law that allow Russian intelligence agencies to request or compel assistance from Kaspersky and to intercept communications transiting Russian networks. The risk that the Russian government, whether acting on its own or in collaboration with Kaspersky, could capitalize on access provided by Kaspersky products to compromise federal information and information systems directly implicates U.S. national security.

KGIII 9y ago
> The DHS is "tin foil hatters"? Yes? To be fair, that is kind of their job. I don't suppose their precept says that they should be paranoid and believing in conspiracy theories - in those exact words. But, that seems to be how it is manifest.

openasocket 9y ago

Kaspersky is pretty well known to have a close relationship with the Russian government, though. Hell, Kaspersky himself used to work for Soviet military intelligence. There's several articles cited here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaspersky_Lab#Allegations_of_ties_to_the_Russian_government https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaspersky_Lab#Allegations_of_t... I'm not saying Kaspersky is a part of the Russian intelligence apparatus, but I wouldn't trust them to report on Fancy Bear campaigns, nor would I trust their AV software if I were a particularly juicy target.

Bendingo 9y ago
> Kaspersky himself used to work for Soviet military intelligence This is straight up not true. He studied at an institute that was administered by the KGB.
lawnchair_larry 9y ago
They are not known for any such thing, and Eugene did not work for military intelligence. He has addressed this many times.

tptacek 9y ago

Whatever the "bullshit blogs" might be (I haven't noticed these stories, but maybe you can provide links?), they're in good company now, because that's more or less the story the NYT, WSJ, and WaPo have developed.

Natsu 9y ago
There's not a lot of attribution going on here, though. Take the WaPo story, they just tell us what's possible and leave us to draw conclusions ourselves - “That’s the crux of the matter,” said one industry official who received the briefing. “Whether Kaspersky is working directly for the Russian government or not doesn’t matter; their Internet service providers are subject to monitoring. So virtually anything shared with Kaspersky could become the property of the Russian government.” Late last month, the National Intelligence Council completed a classified report that it shared with NATO allies concluding that the FSB had “probable access” to Kaspersky customer databases and source code. That access, it concluded, could help enable cyberattacks against U.S. government, commercial and industrial control networks.