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Government Security The Courts United States Politics

Kaspersky Suits Tossed, Fed Bans Will Continue (axios.com) 82

Posted by msmash from the tussle-continues dept.
A Washington D.C. court has dismissed Kaspersky Lab's lawsuits against the U.S. government over two different rules banning Kaspersky products from federal systems. From a report: Both a federal law passed as part of last years National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA,) and a binding operational directive (BOD) issued by the Department of Homeland Security, prohibit federal agencies from using Kaspersky products. Both portrayed Kaspersky, a Moscow based company, as a national security risk. Kaspersky sued to prevent the two rules from coming into place, claiming the NDAA was a form of unlawful punishment against a specific company known as a bill of attainder. The judge reasoned that "The NDAA does not inflict 'punishment' on Kaspersky Lab. It eliminates a perceived risk to the Nation's cybersecurity and, in so doing, has the secondary effect of foreclosing one small source of revenue for a large multinational corporation." Because the NDAA ruling remains in effect, the judge ruled the BOD case was more or less a moot point. Further reading: Who's Afraid of Kaspersky?, and US Government Can't Get Controversial Kaspersky Lab Software Off Its Networks.
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Kaspersky Suits Tossed, Fed Bans Will Continue More

Kaspersky Suits Tossed, Fed Bans Will Continue

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  • You don't sue government for hurting your business...

    The government just ends your business...

  • Okay, I get this, but.... (Score:4, Interesting)

    by mark-t ( 151149 ) <markt AT nerdflat DOT com> on Wednesday May 30, 2018 @02:57PM (#56701276) Journal

    FTA:

    The perceived threat:Lawmakers and DHS have publicly said the national security threat from Kaspersky products stems from Russian law. Antivirus programs and other security programs often upload files to a security firm's server in the course of analyzing them for threats. By law, Kaspersky would have to honor Russian official requests for the data.

    Couldn't Kaspersky sidestep this issue by *not* uploading any content? Or is this ban in effect because they could theoretically upload, even if they don't?

    That being the case, wouldn't it stand to reason that they should simultaneously prohibit *ALL* software written by any agency outside of the US which might have similar laws with regards to data collection, and not just single out Kaspersky labs?

    • Why "outside of the US"? Does "inside of the US" get a pass? If so, why?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by AHuxley ( 892839 )
      A computer has new malware thats active, in the wild, working and an AV app is just to do nothing?
      The idea is to get the new malware to the AV experts and then protect AV users globally from new malware. Quickly and on every detection of new malware.

  • They don't play ball with the US regime.

    Of course in Russia, I might use something else.

    Just like I use only Chinese phones in the EUSA and EUSA phones in China.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by atrex ( 4811433 )
      I switched to Kaspersky back in the late 2000s because it was consistently rated as one of the best performing AV suites available, and it didn't have the bloat of Norton or McAfee.

      Having the NSA blackball it, the same way they complain about encryption schemes not having backdoors to which they have the keys to, is just another recommendation going for it.

      Show me evidence of Kaspersky being used to steal identities and/or financial information, then I'd reconsider using it.

  • This is why you should use Kaspersky (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    it's basically the U.S. government admitting that Kaspersky is too good, it keeps most of the U.S-made spyware out, and they refuse to let the government in when they ask while the other vendors are too afraid to have sanctions levied against them, so they just play ball.

    • I'll say it without being AC. So many with short attention spans forgot that this was the one that detected spyware when no one else did.

      • And of course this is why it is being targeted, because it won't play ball and give the US TLAs a free pass to infect its clients.

        I'm sure this fuss is doing them nothing but good.outside. The US..

        The thing to remember is that this also implies all the other security produces DO give the US agencies a free pass..

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by Anonymous Coward

        So many with short attention spans forgot that this was the one that detected spyware when no one else did.

        Sigh. False. Kaspersky even explains it differently. They detected a zip file containing already known malware signatures and automatically retrieved it for analysis. It also happened it have a bunch of other previously unknown malware.

        Kaspersky is no better than the other top AV vendors... but they certainly have an effective marketing campaign to promote themselves as better.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by AHuxley ( 892839 )
      Yes the past protection helped computer users globally find, understand and protect against:
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
      Stuxnet, Flame, Equation Group https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org].
      That 60 government android cyber-espionage effort.

      The internet users globally need the very best real time detection and protection against advanced emerging malware.
  • So is it back to the Warm-ups or perhaps Chinos and Polos?
  • The TPP would have prevented this. It doesn't allow laws that interfere with profits. Captcha: greedily
  • Both the US and Russians need to continue to funnel 100s of millions into their military, black ops, surveillance programs. Kaspersky is the unwitting poster child to help scare their respective citizens and help fill the stomach of the beast that - ironically - threatens our very freedoms.

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