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Even american security companies have ties to the intelligence community. Kaspersky is no different. In most countries private sector pays more so state hackers

by _8j50 5y ago

Even american security companies have ties to the intelligence community. Kaspersky is no different. In most countries private sector pays more so state hackers work at places like Crowdstrike or Kaspersky after some time. Their relationship with the IC helps develop and share intelligence both ways.

NelsonMinar 5y ago
There's an important difference: American security companies have ties to American intelligence. The concern here is Kaspersky has ties to Russian intelligence. If you're an American company or government agency and have to choose between the two the choice is pretty clear. I have a lot of respect for Kaspersky and hope they are still independent. But "ties to intelligence" can come in many forms: deliberate, coerced, or via infiltration. We've seen similar issues here in the US. Sometimes companies work voluntarily with the FBI and NSA, sometimes they are infiltrated or tricked by them.
- sovietmoonbase 5y ago
  > If you're an American company or government agency and have to choose between the two the choice is pretty clear. I suppose that entirely depends on one's threat-model. As an American, I have greater concerns of USG oppression than I do Russian. As the Russians have their ham-fisted means of exterting influence on a company, the US has their very own nasty ways of infiltration. If you're interested in personal freedoms free of malicious government intrusion, they both suck.
  - NelsonMinar 5y ago
BTCOG 5y ago
It's not just security companies. US ISPs are heavily tied to agencies and so are the large corps. The media is state ran just like Russia.
- older 5y ago
  You can't be more wrong when you say "just like Russia". It is not even close. The killings of journalists, repressions... The last independent newspaper has to close its activity because it is not possible anymore to report truth while complying to the Russian laws: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/3/28/russias-novaya-gazeta-newspaper-suspends-activity-after-warning https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/3/28/russias-novaya-gaze... All this with Russian government/president approval rating of 70%.
  - jacobr1 5y ago
    Without independent media, how can we trust the approval rating is accurate?
    - older 5y ago
      Levada-Center is the best bet we have: https://www.levada.ru/en/ratings/ https://www.levada.ru/en/ratings/ But when even Russians who live in Germany are rallying in support of the Russia's war it is reasonable to assume that those ratings are accurate.
      - csydas 5y ago
        No, it really doesn't follow. The subset of russians living in germany who approve of the war has no bearing or relationship to all russians. The "living in germany" part doesn't contradict the same concerns that those living in russia have, as like those living in russia, the emigrated russians likely have: - family still in russia - ties to russia (financial, business, family, etc) - desire to visit russia without having to deal with legal harassment for actions done abroad - desire to be able to assist people (family/friends) living in russia without compromising them This does not mean that they are for or against a current government, but rather, that the proposed logic is specious as it tries to create a separation where it is not probable there is one while simultaneously extrapolating the results of a small sample size across a population that supposedly is without the influence of Russia.

by _8j50 5y ago

NelsonMinar 5y ago

There's an important difference: American security companies have ties to American intelligence. The concern here is Kaspersky has ties to Russian intelligence. If you're an American company or government agency and have to choose between the two the choice is pretty clear. I have a lot of respect for Kaspersky and hope they are still independent. But "ties to intelligence" can come in many forms: deliberate, coerced, or via infiltration. We've seen similar issues here in the US. Sometimes companies work voluntarily with the FBI and NSA, sometimes they are infiltrated or tricked by them.

sovietmoonbase 5y ago
> If you're an American company or government agency and have to choose between the two the choice is pretty clear. I suppose that entirely depends on one's threat-model. As an American, I have greater concerns of USG oppression than I do Russian. As the Russians have their ham-fisted means of exterting influence on a company, the US has their very own nasty ways of infiltration. If you're interested in personal freedoms free of malicious government intrusion, they both suck.
- NelsonMinar 5y ago

BTCOG 5y ago

It's not just security companies. US ISPs are heavily tied to agencies and so are the large corps. The media is state ran just like Russia.

older 5y ago
You can't be more wrong when you say "just like Russia". It is not even close. The killings of journalists, repressions... The last independent newspaper has to close its activity because it is not possible anymore to report truth while complying to the Russian laws: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/3/28/russias-novaya-gazeta-newspaper-suspends-activity-after-warning https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/3/28/russias-novaya-gaze... All this with Russian government/president approval rating of 70%.
- jacobr1 5y ago
  Without independent media, how can we trust the approval rating is accurate?
  - older 5y ago
    Levada-Center is the best bet we have: https://www.levada.ru/en/ratings/ https://www.levada.ru/en/ratings/ But when even Russians who live in Germany are rallying in support of the Russia's war it is reasonable to assume that those ratings are accurate.
    - csydas 5y ago
      No, it really doesn't follow. The subset of russians living in germany who approve of the war has no bearing or relationship to all russians. The "living in germany" part doesn't contradict the same concerns that those living in russia have, as like those living in russia, the emigrated russians likely have: - family still in russia - ties to russia (financial, business, family, etc) - desire to visit russia without having to deal with legal harassment for actions done abroad - desire to be able to assist people (family/friends) living in russia without compromising them This does not mean that they are for or against a current government, but rather, that the proposed logic is specious as it tries to create a separation where it is not probable there is one while simultaneously extrapolating the results of a small sample size across a population that supposedly is without the influence of Russia.