Kaspersky Anti-Virus used to steal NSA secrets

http://www.businessinsider.com/russian-hackers-nsa-kaspersky-lab-software-2017-10

Investigators believe that software from Russia's top cybersecurity firm, Kaspersky Lab, was involved in a theft of top-secret National Security Agency intelligence outlining how the US hacks its adversaries, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.

And depending on what was stolen, the breach could spell catastrophe for the company.

The Journal reported that an NSA contractor stole and downloaded onto his personal computer highly classified details about how the US penetrates foreign computer networks and defends itself against cyberattacks. (The Washington Post reported that the person was not a contractor but an employee working for the NSA's elite hacking division known as Tailored Access Operations.)

Russian hackers then reportedly stole that intelligence by exploiting the Kaspersky antivirus software the contractor had been running on his computer.

The breach wasn't discovered until the spring of 2016, according to The Journal and The Washington Post — nearly one year after the hackers are believed to have gained access to the intelligence.

Kaspersky has denied any involvement in the theft, and it is unclear whether the hackers stole code or documents from the contractor. The latter would prove far more damning for Kaspersky, experts say, especially as it stands accused by the US government of being a tool of the Kremlin.

The FBI interviewed at least a dozen Kaspersky employees in June, visiting them at their homes on both US coasts to gather facts about how the company works, NBC reported. Two months later, the bureau reportedly warned private-sector companies against using Kaspersky software. Last month, President Donald Trump ordered US government agencies to purge Kaspersky products from their computers.

Kennedy said it was unlikely the government would have made those moves without "direct evidence" that Kaspersky was in some way connected to the Russian government.

Bardin agreed.

The FBI is "not going to let on, and they'll be very generic in their comments to prevent Kaspersky from learning what they know," he said. "But there's definitely something there."

Edited by forrest74 - 07 Oct 2017 at 6:32pm

Bunch of deranged arses in my opinion, specifically our military/intelligence agencies. Let's see,
2010 Anna Chapman and her spy ring, so we know the "Russian Federation" was actively performing espionage against us for years and still is. The PLA are also involved in routinely breaking into our systems(directly or indirectly).
2013 Bradley Manning, having access to databases containing classified information was able to extract and transfer it to WikiLeaks. Whatever happened to the weeding process to prevent knuckleheads like this from even getting a security clearance? I thought risk factors outweighed an individual's entitlement to be given a "chance" when being selected for these kinds of jobs.

There exists a very very remote possibility that I'm wrong, but does anyone else think that its a stupid idea the way classified information is handled nowadays? It seems like convenience is becoming more important than safe-guarding data.
Also, I'll never understand why individuals who work in/for the government would even want Kaspersky on or in any way connected to "any" of their systems, regardless of it being a personal or work computer. Its like playing soccer with your genitals hanging out and not ever expecting them to get damaged.

I am using Kaspersky for my laptop now, should I uninstall then go back to Norton security again?

Originally posted by Snaike Never use Norton. Never.

I’ve been using Norton for years with zero problems.      Just me.

I’ll take Luck over Experience.

Just read that Windows yesterday update is causing unrecoverable BSOD.    Can’t wait to fire up my rig later to see if update on shut down screwed me.     On my iPad right now.    

My rig fired up with no problem after update. Whew, dodged another bullet.