# Kaspersky Labs



## JustBonee (May 10, 2017)

Is anyone familiar with the antivirus software that this company provides?   
After everything that is coming to light in Washington these days with the Russians,   I would be very leery if using it.  

I'm on a Mac and do not have it personally,  but I saw a news story last night about it being  a popular program used by many .... especially businesses around the country. 

It's based in Moscow,   and being given  a  hard look _now._..  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaspersky_Lab   .  ...

_Kaspersky Lab develops and markets antivirus, internet security, password management, endpoint security, and other cybersecurity products and services.[SUP][2][/SUP] It is the fourth or fifth largest endpoint security vendor[SUP][11][/SUP][SUP][29][/SUP] and the third largest consumer IT security software company.[SUP][11][/SUP] It is the sixth largest overall IT security company.[SUP][30][/SUP] Its revenues are about 15 percent from Russian companies domestically, one-third from European organizations and one-fourth from U.S. organizations.[SUP][31][/SUP] The software has about 400 million users in all.[SUP][32][/SUP]
__Kaspersky's consumer software include the Antivirus, Internet Security and Total Security products. _


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## Ruth n Jersey (May 10, 2017)

I used it quite a few years ago. Staples had great offers back then and one of them was a free year of Kaspersky. I didn't have any problems then, but now? Who knows.


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## JustBonee (May 10, 2017)

The fox guarding the hen house scenario?  ... 

There have been some  things coming to light in the last few days like this  ...     http://wsbtradio.com/officials-fear...ugh-popular-software-firm-under-fbi-scrutiny/


Current and former U.S. officials, however, point to company executives who previously worked for Russian intelligence and military agencies. They worry that Kaspersky Lab’s software could allow state-sponsored hackers to potentially steal users’ files, read private emails, or attack critical infrastructure inside the United States.
Kaspersky Lab’s possible relationship with Russian intelligence services “makes a lot of people in the national security community uncomfortable,” said Eric Rosenbach, a cybersecurity veteran who until January was the Defense Department’s chief of staff.
In particular, current and former U.S. officials fear Kaspersky Lab products could have the potential to facilitate Russian cyberattacks on power grids or other key utilities.


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## tnthomas (May 10, 2017)

Yeah, a couple years ago I bought a laptop with Windows on it, came with a "free" trial of Kaspersky,  I said "naw, thanks but no thanks".


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## Wintermint (May 10, 2017)

Talk about fear and paranoia. I have a paid version. It is brilliant, works without slowing anything down and does its job brilliantly.

Think of all the electronics built in China! Are we going to ditch them because the Chinese might have put spyware in them? We need to build bridges not make them!


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## Grampa Don (May 10, 2017)

If you're worried about the Russian government, ask yourself why they would care what's on your computer.  I have never paid for virus protection.  I've used the free version of Avast anti-virus for years, and had no problems.  

Don


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## tnthomas (May 10, 2017)

Wintermint said:


> Talk about fear and paranoia. I have a paid version. It is brilliant, works without slowing anything down and does its job brilliantly.
> 
> Think of all the electronics built in China! Are we going to ditch them because the Chinese might have put spyware in them? We need to build bridges not make them!



No fear and paranoia here, don't need it.  MSE for what _few_ Windows builds I do, Linux for everything else. Linux doesn't need antivirus programs sucking up performance and eating data bandwidth.


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## JustBonee (May 10, 2017)

Yeah,  we should have  reined it all in back in the '60's before it got away  ...    <sarcasm>  


I have no virus protection on my computer. ... have never had any issues with my Macs over the years.   Steve Jobs wasn't worried about Apple computers and attacks.


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## HipGnosis (Jun 2, 2017)

I worked on and with computers (and networks) for almost 20 yrs.
Kapersky is a highly reputable company.


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## Don M. (Jun 2, 2017)

Grampa Don said:


> If you're worried about the Russian government, ask yourself why they would care what's on your computer.  I have never paid for virus protection.  I've used the free version of Avast anti-virus for years, and had no problems. Don



I'm with you...I've used various commercial anti-virus programs, over the years, then, switched to the Free Avast when the last subscription ran out...years ago.  I've had Zero problems with Avast, and it meets my needs.  I also run the Free version of MalwareBytes, just in case Avast misses something.  I run a full scan and update about twice a week, on both...and that seems to keep my system working properly.


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## Phantom (Jun 21, 2017)

I was using them for years but for some reason I am unable to intall it. Gets to 99% and hangs.Ending up with paid version of AVG. Good program Can use on multiple computers but hate the pop ups asking to run some other scan but then you pay extra


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## HipGnosis (Jun 26, 2017)

Phantom said:


> I was using them for years but for some reason I am unable to intall it. Gets to 99% and hangs.Ending up with paid version of AVG. Good program Can use on multiple computers but hate the pop ups asking to run some other scan but then you pay extra


I'm running the free version of AVG.  All the pop ups had me thinking I needed to upgrade to the paid version. But if that has pop us too, I'll go back to Avast.


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## Don M. (Jun 26, 2017)

HipGnosis said:


> I'm running the free version of AVG.  All the pop ups had me thinking I needed to upgrade to the paid version. But if that has pop us too, I'll go back to Avast.



If you are having trouble with pop up ads, try the free version of ABP...I have used that for the past 3 or 4 years, and it has blocked over 1.5 million ads on my system...with NO side effects.

https://adblockplus.org/


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