Items tagged with Kaspersky
Android malware that has the ability to spy on users and perform other nefarious tasks seem to be a dime a dozen these days. However, a new piece of Android malware is making the rounds, and it's loaded to the brim with sophisticated spying capabilities that have never been seen before. Dubbed Skygofree, the malware was first developed back in 2014 and has gone through a number of code rewrites since then. In its most current iteration, the number of features that are at its disposal are quite remarkable. Kaspersky labels Skygofree as "multi-stage spyware that gives attackers full remote control...
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A popular antivirus vendor is at odds with the United States government over ties with Russia, and things have turned ugly. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a government ban on any and all Kaspersky software, giving civilian government agencies 90 days to remove Kaspersky software completely from their networks. In response, Kaspersky has filed a lawsuit against DHS, claiming the ban was unjustified. DHS issued the ban over concerns of Russian interference, and fear that Kaspersky might be colluding with Russia to spy on US intelligence agencies. The ban and subsequent lawsuit follows...
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This has been a bad year for wide-scale ransomware attacks, where malware encrypt a user's computer and demands payment to unlock the machine. The two major ransomware attacks that have happened in 2017 include WannaCry and ExPetr (or Petya and NotPetya as they were also called). The hackers behind WannaCry cashed out their bitcoin ransom in August netting about $143,000. The year is almost over, but another major ransomware attack is underway and it is called Bad Rabbit. Kaspersky says that Bad Rabbit has infected several major Russian media outlets with Interfax and Fontanka.ru news agencies...
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Kaspersky just lost a major customer. Best Buy, the largest electronics retailer in the United States, is yanking Kaspersky's security products off its brick-and-mortar and online store shelves. While Kaspersky has traditionally been one of the most well regarded developers of security software for PCs and mobile devices, more recently some have voiced concerns over the company's potential ties with the Russian government. It is not clear what exactly was the straw that broke the camel in this case. Best Buy may have been spooked by numerous media reports covering the topic, or it could have been...
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Antivirus maker Kaspersky Lab may have kissed and made up with Microsoft over a dispute in how Windows 10 handles third-party AV software, but even so companies are reportedly being warned not to use the security software. The warning comes from the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), according to CyberScoop, which says it spoke with both current and former senior US officials who are familiar with the matter. The perceived threat is a familiar one in the software industry—government spying. In this case, Kaspersky Lab is headquartered in Moscow, Russia. Apparently US intelligence...
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After putting legal pressure on Microsoft to provide antivirus vendors with additional time to test their software prior to new Windows 10 builds being rolled out, security outfit Kaspersky is getting its way. Microsoft announced in a blog post that it has agreed to certain changes in the way it handles third-party AV software, which will be implemented in the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update. "We work closely with AV partners like Kaspersky Lab, and at our Microsoft Virus Initiative forum last month, we made great progress in building upon our shared understanding of how we deliver Windows 10 updates...
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A well known computer security company is easing back on its threat to file a complaint on Microsoft over anti-competitive concerns, though it is not completely off the table. That company is Russia's Kaspersky Lab, and for the time being it is content with Microsoft's ongoing efforts to be more inclusive of third-party antivirus programs for Windows 10 that compete with the OS's built-in Defender software. Kaspersky's frustration boiled over into a lengthy blog post last year written by Kaspersky founder and CEO Eugene Kaspersky. Titled "That's It. I've Had Enough!," the blog laid out Kaspersky's...
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Third-party antivirus developers aren't happy with the way Windows 10 seemingly goes to great lengths to kick AV programs to the curb in favor of Microsoft's own built-in Defender software, and that has led to an antitrust investigation in Russia. Among the various complaints, the Russian antitrust authority will see if Microsoft abused its position of dominance by rushing the OS to market. Russia's antitrust suit echos the complaints Eugene Kaspsersky shared in a lengthy blog post blasting Microsoft for how it treats Defender versus third-party AV programs. Kaspersky, who is the CEO of Kaspersky...
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Cybersecurity expert Eugene Kaspersky just channeled his inner Howard Beale to let Microsoft know he's mad as hell and isn't going to take it anymore. If that reference is too old, we can kick things up a decade to Twisted Sister, as all that's missing from his strongly worded and scathing blog post calling out Microsoft for unfairly favoring its own Defender antivirus software over third-party solutions is the 1980s band's hit song playing in the background. While Eugene himself doesn't bring this up, there are quite a few parallels between the song "We're Not Gonna Take It" and his message to...
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Kaspersky Lab is defending itself against accusations that it tricked competing antivirus services into damaging their clients’ computers. The Russian anti-malware software developer is well-known for its security software, but faces stiff competition from the likes of Avast, AVG, McAfee, Microsoft and Symantec. Anonymous sources claiming to be former Kaspersky employees went public with criticism of the company recently, alleging that Kaspersky poisoned a data pool that security companies share in an attempt to undermine their credibility with customers. Not surprisingly, Kaspersky is a bit prickly...
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It's not a great day for Russia-based Kaspersky Lab, as some of its former employees have come forward (anonymously) with information that indicates that some dastardly deeds were conducted by the company. Ultimately, it's said that Kaspersky wanted to harm its competition because they wouldn't stop stealing its work. The allegation is that Kaspersky Lab had select employees purposely inject bad code into normal, common files, so that its competitors could pick them up as malicious, and in the worst case, delete them from a user's PC. That could result in broken software or perhaps even a broken...
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Leading antivirus firm Kaspersky Lab said that it recently suffered a security breach involving at least three techniques that it had never seen before. The AV company described the attack as "one of the most sophisticated campaigns ever seen," though it believes it was able to detect the intrusion at an early stage, thereby mitigating the damage."This highly sophisticated attack used up to three zero-day exploits, which is very impressive -- the costs must have been very high," Costin Raiu, director of Kaspersky's global research and analysis team, said in a statement.The sneaky malware used...
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Thanks to antivirus software maker Kaspersky, you may not need to pony up to retrieve your files if your computer is infected with the hated CoinVault ransomware. The company announced that it has found a way to decrypt the files and is offering to help infected users for free. The big break came from a Dutch cybercrime police unit that was able to scavenge decryption keys from a server used by CoinVault. Kaspersky used the data to create a tool for decrypting locked files. The tool isn’t always successful, but if you’ve lost critical files to the malware, it’s worth a try. After all, the alternative...
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Security firms the world over dream of a day like this, but this one belongs to Kaspersky. The Russian-based firm has discovered the existence of a threat actor that could be linked to the US Government, and NSA in particular. Kaspersky has dubbed the group Equation, as it became clear that the folks involved loved advanced encryption algorithms and other obfuscation techniques. Through its Global Research and Analysis Team (GReAT), Kaspersky has discovered that Equation has itself created advanced malware - dating back to at least the early 2000s - and also had extremely close ties to groups responsible...
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