Category Archives: Kaspersky Lab

Kaspersky Lab banned from advertising on Twitter

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Russian cybersecurity company Kaspersky Lab has been banned from advertising on Twitter due to its allegedly close and active ties between the company and Russian intelligence agencies, according to the social network. The ban is the latest blow in an ongoing saga for Kaspersky, which includes two ongoing legal battles with the U.S. government. Eugene Kaspersky, CEO of Kaspersky Lab, took to Twitter on Friday to condemn the ban. My open letter to @jack Dorsey asking for more transparency to quash any doubts about potential political censorship on Twitter https://t.co/XKtIOpbmd3 pic.twitter.com/UhecZRY7ZB — Eugene Kaspersky (@e_kaspersky) April 20, 2018 A Twitter spokesperson reiterated that the “decision is based on our determination that Kaspersky Lab operates using a business model that inherently conflicts with acceptable Twitter Ads business practices.” The same spokesperson pointed media to the September 2017 Department of Homeland Security decree that ordered federal agencies to remove Kaspersky products from […]

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Use of ‘StegWare’ Increases in Stealth Malware Attacks

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Researchers are warning malware payloads can bypass traditional AV protection when delivered buried inside images, documents or even just a pixel. Continue reading Use of ‘StegWare’ Increases in Stealth Malware Attacks→

Hackers leverage flaw in Cisco switches to hit Russian, Iranian networks

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The proof-of-concept exploit code for a vulnerability affecting many Cisco switches has been leveraged by vigilante hackers to mess with networks and data-centers in Russia and Iran. Who has been hit? According to Kaspersky Lab researchers, after explo… Continue reading Hackers leverage flaw in Cisco switches to hit Russian, Iranian networks→

Eugene Kaspersky defends publishing ‘Slingshot’ report

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The founder and current CEO of Kaspersky Lab is defending the Moscow-based company after it published a research report that ultimately exposed an active U.S. cyber-espionage operation against ISIS and Al-Qaeda terrorists. In an interview with Australian press, Eugene Kaspersky said his company’s anti-virus engine does not discriminate based on nationality or the malware authors’ intent. Prior reporting by CyberScoop showed that the research report in question, which looked at a malware framework dubbed “Slingshot,” was in fact connected to an expansive U.S.-led counterterrorism effort. “Don’t blame our X-ray,” he told The Australian after speaking at a Formula One event in Melbourne. “It rings on any kind of gun. It doesn’t matter who’s wearing the gun, a terrorist or a policeman. We provide the world’s best X-ray … Maybe days after we find that it’s a criminal searching for money, or it’s espionage looking for information. Our X-ray is made to ring […]

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Justice Department seeks dismissal of Kaspersky lawsuit, court documents show

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The Justice Department filed motions in district court Monday to dismiss two lawsuits brought by Russian cybersecurity and anti-virus provider Kaspersky. It is the latest move in a protracted legal battle. All U.S. federal agencies have been prohibited from using any hardware, software, or devices developed by Moscow-based Kaspersky, following President Donald Trump’s signing of the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) on Dec. 12, 2017. Kaspersky claims that by prohibiting the use of their products, Congress has violated the Bill of Attainder Clause of the Constitution, which prohibits the singling out of a private entity for punishment without sufficient evidence of wrongdoing. But in the motion filed by Assistant Attorney General Chad Readler, the Justice Department argues that Kaspersky has neglected to consider the weeks of congressional meetings and debates that preceded the decision to prohibit their products. Lawmakers have had concerns about Kaspersky since at least April 2017, […]

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Report: Kaspersky Lab to open new data center in Switzerland to curb espionage suspicions

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Hoping to curb suspicions surrounding its alleged relationship to Russian intelligence, Moscow-based cybersecurity company Kaspersky Lab is set to start building a new data center in Switzerland, Reuters reports.  The aim is to address recent concerns that Russian spies have supposedly leveraged the anti-virus platform to steal confidential files, according to documents seen by Reuters. In an official statement, the company explains that this new building is part of their larger Global Transparency Initiative. “We understand that during a time of geopolitical tension, mirrored by an increasingly complex cyber-threat landscape, people may have questions and we want to address them,” a company statement reads.  The Swiss lab will store and analyze malicious computer files with unusual characteristics that come from customers geographically located in the United States and European Union. Only “abnormal” files will be sent on to Kaspersky headquarters in Moscow for further manual review. A source told Reuters that 99.6 percent […]

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Kaspersky uncovers sophisticated cyber-espionage operation across Africa and Middle East

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Researchers have uncovered new malware that has apparently been used to spy on victims in the Middle East and Africa for six years undetected. A Friday report from Moscow-based Kaspersky Lab details how a threat it’s calling “Slingshot” has been infecting victims, collecting a wide variety of data and exfiltrating it in a covert fashion. The company says the threat is likely the work of a resource-rich government. “Slingshot is very complex and the developers behind it have clearly spent a great deal of time and money on its creation. Its infection vector is remarkable – and, to the best of our knowledge, unique,” the researchers write. Kaspersky says the APT has been active as far back as 2012 and was still active as of their analysis in February this year. Slingshot is apparently so sophisticated that Kaspersky has labeled it an advanced persistent threat (APT). The researchers say that Slingshot’s infection vector […]

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