U.S. senators seek military ban on Kaspersky Lab products amid FBI probe

[wishstar]

Source: Reuters

"U.S. senators sought on Wednesday to ban Moscow-based cyber security firm Kaspersky Lab's products from use by the military because of fears the company is vulnerable to "Russian government influence," a day after the FBI interviewed several of its U.S. employees as part of a probe into its operations.

Federal Bureau of Investigation agents visited the homes of Kaspersky employees late on Tuesday in multiple U.S. cities, although no search warrants were served, according to two sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the FBI probe.

Kaspersky Lab confirmed in a statement on Wednesday that FBI agents have had "brief interactions" with some of its U.S. employees, discussions that the company described as "due diligence" chats. The FBI declined to comment.

The interviews were followed on Wednesday by the release of a defense spending policy bill passed by the Senate Armed Services Committee, which would prohibit the U.S. Defense Department from using Kaspersky software platforms because the company "might be vulnerable to Russian government influence," according to a summary of the legislation."



Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-kasperskylab-probe-idUSKBN19J2IX

[tirebiter]

1. I consider Mcafee a greater threat

To my computer security.

[Chemisse]

2. It makes sense to keep Russian companies out of our military systems.

That should be an expected consequence of Russia meddling in our election - a no-brainer.

[rpannier]

4. I had it before

It worked well. But, I didn't renew last year because of the hacking scandal as it unfolded

[rpannier]

3. Whatever for? I thought our Dear Leader said it was some 400 lb guy

sitting on a bed somewhere

[Honeycombe8]

5. We were using a Moscow-based cybersecurity company?

All throughout the investigation into Russia's cyberhacking us? How stupid is THAT?

[dalton99a]

6. Yep, a Russian company with close ties to Russian military and intelligence

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-03-19/cybersecurity-kaspersky-has-close-ties-to-russian-spies
The Company Securing Your Internet Has Close Ties to Russian Spies

[janx]

8. hmmm...When I had data transferred to this computer, the tech guy

asked me if I wanted virus protection.

Guess what he installed? Time to go back to Norton?

[Honeycombe8]

13. I knew I recognized that name. Yes, Kaspersky is a big anti-virus program for computers.

I wonder if that's what the govt was using. I was thinking they were using a cyberhacking business. But I guess it's sort of the same thing.

And still....Kaspersky having ties to Moscow would be able to open the gates for Russian moles, if it wanted.

[politicat]

15. Sophos. Really. It's one of the best out there.

McAfee still has a long history of being flaky. Kaspersky is just too much of a risk. Clam doesn't update enough. Norton is okay, but Sophos runs lighter for at least equal if not better protection.

We use Sophos in house and at both of our workplaces, and it's doing exactly what it should -- most of the time, I forget it's there.

But with everything -- let the system update. If you sit down to work and it tells you it needs an update or an update failed, that takes priority over everything that's not actively bleeding, vomiting or gasping for breath.

[Hekate]

11. How stupid? Really fcking jaw-dropping stupid.

[Hortensis]

16. I actually don't see that location matters that

much any more. Our government had undoubtedly done this as part of some deal that security experts believed worked for us before. And obviously no longer.

[Crash2Parties]

7. Meanwhile Congress & the WH are more than just "vulnerable" to Russian influence...

They've sold their loyalty for it.

[roomtomove]

9. DUHHHHHHHHH....

I do not use this product simply because IT IS RUSSIAN........just as I would not buy puter stuff made in China whether it is Apple, Lenovo, etc.

[Chrysanthemum]

12. Is there any computer stuff made here?

I just assumed all stuff was made in China now. Where else are computers made? (I'm really ignorant on this topic!)

[roomtomove]

18. software is designed here for the most part... I use Norton for antivirus

but nevertheless I avoid anything made in China or Russia..... computers are also made in other far eastern countries that may be safer than the Russian or Chinese stuff

[politicat]

17. And what exactly are you running?

If you're not running a Mac Pro, I cannot see how you're sourcing anything.

IDE hard drives are easy - Seagate are made in Thailand and Malaysia. SSDs... Micron SSDs are built in Utah, but of Chinese components, because NAND requires a semiconductor manufacturing infrastructure based on rare earth metals. Crucial memory is designed in Idaho, but made in China. PNY still manufactures in the US, but they use Chinese components. Patriot assembles in the US, but same semiconductor problem. That's the best option for memory. Supermicro boards are designed in California, but primarily manufactured in Taiwan, and they're mostly server/blade. Which hey, if you're using a half-height for your desktop, that's really metal, but damn, your electric company must love you. Motorola shuttered its wafer fab; Intel still makes 24 and 32 nm wafers in Chandler, but those are mostly not for consumer market.

Are you building your own cases, or recycling vintage towers? What about power supplies? Rebuilding and rewrapping? I have to assume you're not running either a video or sound card, just relying on what's on the mobo. Also not using any sort of removeable media unless it's a 30+ year old floppy drive, and the belts for those are getting rare. I just had to rebuild an early 1980s Tandy floppy, and I don't know if I'll be able to do it again. No, I'm wrong -- you might be running a Polish or Czech CD/R, but that's pretty much the limit, and the media is still imported. You might be able to get internet access with an old Intel Ethernet card (manufactured before 1998, when that division shuttered at the Phoenix plant) but 20 years on a card is pushing it. Definitely not wifi or bluetooth unless you're running a server kit, and those rarely have integrated wifi or bluetooth because servers are intended to be wired.

I am genuinely curious what you're running. This is a huge issue, because the reason we don't have sufficient wafer fab infrastructure and semiconductor manufacturing infrastructure is because of the rare earth metals supply chain. The US doesn't have it, the Chinese market does not export raw rare earth, and the other sources are inconsistent and deeply bloody. (Go read up on Coltan, but it's only one of several REMs needed for wafer fab and semiconductor manufacturing.) China is the world's semiconductor source because they've got the reserves and they control that. They only sell to local manufacturers.

The only machine (excluding those built for Mil-spec, which are rarely available on the open market) that is designed, fully manufactured and built in the US is the columnar Mac Pro, which is built in Texas, and is a $3K to $6K proposition. The integrated board in that one is US built because the form factor prohibits the use of a standard board. Samsung builds those boards in Texas as a joint venture. Lenovo assembles Thinkpads in North Carolina, but they use lowest bidder parts, and those always going to come from China, because rare earth metals. A computer only uses a few grams of them, but they're vital.

[ProudLib72]

10. I recall this being brought up a few months ago

by someone here on DU. And now the FBI is finally getting around to it. Proves once again that DU is way ahead of the game. Maybe Mueller ought to hire us?

[TomVilmer]

14. My use of Kaspersky Lab protects against NSA snooping...

... and Norton protects against FSB snooping. The best of two worlds combined .