Is Kaspersky still safe to use?

[qubit]

Thanks everyone for your opinions and advice.

It's not an easy decision to make as I've been using it for so long and one of the things I really like about it is the ability to easily switch it off when I need to troubleshoot something. One can't do this with many other security software.

I now have to decide what I want to replace it with. I'd try Bitdefender as it's highly rated, but that's based in Romania, so it's not that different from Russian infiltration.

Maybe I'll try Norton as that's American so It's about as safe as one can get. Any other suggestions, people?

@eidairaman1 and @Bill_Bright it was your posts which helped me to decide especially, you troublemakers.

 

[caroline!]

I'd just uninstall it to stop it from hogging ludicrous amounts of CPU and RAM for no reason. I've always used either Avast! free, back when it was decent and not literal adware, or the default security suite that comes with Windows.
Being cautious and not clicking on random links that promise free iPhones or a lottery prize in Kenya has definitely helped me, I don't think I've ever got a virus in my Windows installs.

 

[AusWolf]

Ever since Windows Defender started to come integrated into the OS, I don't think there's a need to use other security software on a home user level.

 

[Deleted member 202104]

I know nothing about ESET NOD AntiVirus32, but I have a 1 year subscription key that was included in a combo I bought that you’re welcome to if you want it.

 

[qubit]

I know nothing about ESET NOD AntiVirus32, but I have a 1 year subscription key that was included in a combo I bought that you’re welcome to if you want it.

Thanks man, appreciate it. If you could please pm it to me I'd be very grateful.

 

[Deleted member 202104]

Thanks man, appreciate it. If you could please pm it to me I'd be very grateful.

Sent

 

[eidairaman1]

Thanks everyone for your opinions and advice.

It's not an easy decision to make as I've been using it for so long and one of the things I really like about it is the ability to easily switch it off when I need to troubleshoot something. One can't do this with many other security software.

I now have to decide what I want to replace it with. I'd try Bitdefender as it's highly rated, but that's based in Romania, so it's not that different from Russian infiltration.

Maybe I'll try Norton as that's American so It's about as safe as one can get. Any other suggestions, people?

@eidairaman1 and @Bill_Bright it was your posts which helped me to decide especially, you troublemakers.

ESET NOD32

 

[Cutechri]

I only use Windows Defender, saw no reason for a third party AV for ages now

 

[Bill_Bright]

Gee whiz. Read through the thread again and what you see most are anti-American comments. Comments like yours - but then you are French. We should not be surprised with such French anti-Americanism. Its in your blood.

The facts are, this thread IS about politics - the politics of Putin.

 

[birdie]

As far as I can see there are no arguments against Kaspersky other than "other products are equally good" and "it's from Russia, Russia is an aggressor, so don't use it".

Not only you cast shadow on all the people who develop the product (and Kaspersky has offices all around the world) and don't support government actions in any shape or form, you somehow project the actions of the government to the rest of the people which is simply horrible, offensive and belittling.

If you want to be completely honest to yourself, stop using Windows, Android and iOS right effing now.

Why? Microsoft, Google and Apple have full access to your respectful devices. They can do anything and everything including getting all your data, disrupting your work or in some cases rending your devices dysfunctional (at least with Windows it's impossible, you can simply wipe everything clean and install it fresh, Apple can literally destroy your device, Android phones can be locked down pretty hard can still can be reset and restored in most but not all cases - it depends on OEM).

You want to be safe from everyone? Use Linux on your PC, use a dumb phone instead of smartphone.

And the question was "Is it safe to use", not your feelings about the company or Russia.

 

[Bill_Bright]

As far as I can see there are no arguments against Kaspersky other than "other products are equally good" and "it's from Russia, Russia is an aggressor, so don't use it".

Not only you cast shadow on all the people who develop the product (and Kaspersky has offices all around the world) and don't support government actions in any shape or form, you somehow project the actions of the government to the rest of the people which is simply horrible, offensive and belittling.

No. You are totally wrong! Nobody said anything of the sort! You need to read it again.

The issue is not just that it is from Russia. The issue is the CEO of Kaspersky is a Russian oligarch, trained in KGB run schools, a billionaire buddy of Putin AND there are past, documented incidences (that is, more than one) of bad doings by the company.

If you had bothered to read it thoroughly, you would have also seen where we expressed sympathy for the innocent peoples of Russia - for they are victims of Putin too - with, as previously noted, more than 8,000 of them being arrested just for speaking out against the war.

So PLEASE, if you are going to comment about what others have said in this thread, read and understand what we said before you start "casting shadows" and implying "horrible, offensive, and belittling" things about the rest of us.

 

[qubit]

People, I've just updated my OP after Googling Kaspersky and his position on the war, so please check it out.

 

[Bill_Bright]

Well, he's still a businessman and no doubt, the war is hurting his business so no surprise his comment.

I would not recommend Norton. It is a good security program but in terms of bloat, it is one of the worst. There just is no need to pay for a security program these days. It is a misconception to think paid versions are better, or that they will keep you protected any better.

 

[birdie]

People, I've just updated my OP after Googling Kaspersky and his position on the war, so please check it out.

The position is if you're a Russian citizen and you call this operation a war you can get up to 15 years of prison in Russia. He carefully chose his words and I understand him.

The Tsar has gone truly insane and his vassals play along because they are scared shitless for their lives and money.

Again, this topic is 100% off-topic on TPU, it's 100% political, and you will not get any good advice here and it looks to me you did not want any. You formed a bias against Kaspersky and you're looking for a confirmation. Considering the circumstances people here support it but not because Kasperksy is bad or ostensibly tied to the Russian government.

 

[qubit]

Well, he's still a businessman and no doubt, the war is hurting his business so no surprise his comment.

I would not recommend Norton. It is a good security program but in terms of bloat, it is one of the worst. There just is no need to pay for a security program these days. It is a misconception to think paid versions are better, or that they will keep you protected any better.

Well, the thing is with Windows Defender it only updates its definitions when one manually checks Windows Update, which is a pretty useless mode of operation. The basics of any a/v is that it keeps itself updated automatically.

The position is if you're a Russian citizen and you call this operation a war you can get up to 15 years of prison in Russia. He carefully chose his words and I understand him.

The Tsar has gone truly insane and his vassals play along because they are scared shitless for their lives and money.

Again, this topic is 100% off-topic on TPU, it's 100% political, and you will not get any good advice here and it looks to me you did not want any. You formed a bias and you're looking for a confirmation.

I guess there's that. Still puts doubts in one's mind though if he can't speak freely. His company could even be compromised without him knowing it.

 

[birdie]

His company could even be compromised without him knowing it.

I don't think any business leader can speak their minds freely. I cannot think of anyone who has ever been candid aside from very few. John McAfee comes to mind but he became candid only after he sold his company, so actually I don't know anyone.

There are far too many laws and issues and as a CEO you're absolutely constricted in what you can say and how you can say it.

Take Apple, Facebook and Google CEOs recently. Lies on top of lies on top of lies in terms of them "not being monopolies".

As for me personally I've used Windows for almost three decades, have never had a single AV installed, I have Windows Defender disabled via GPO and I've never had malware. All AVs are bad, dangerous (since they require kernel level privileges) and Windows Defender is not an exception. They give you a false sense of security and they slow down your PC.

This is how you deal with security:

• Keep your software up to date, never let your web browser run if you see an update notification, subscribe to software updates
• Do install and use uBlock Origin and NoScript in your web browser
• Run any new untrusted software via virustotal.com which is not enough, see the next item
• Run any new untrusted software via e.g. SandBoxie (or better yet in a virtual machine) until you're well sure it's safe - then you can run it directly
• If you have to deal with externally provided documents of any format including documents, images, CAD, videos, etc. - at the very least run the respective applications in SandBoxie, better yet use virtualization

In a perfect world you should run your web browser in a virtual machine as well. Your web browser runs external (often malicious) code all the time.

I see no poll here "Is Chrome/Firefox/whatever safe to use?" Hell no.

• Removing an XSLT parameter during processing could have lead to an exploitable use-after-free. We have had reports of attacks in the wild abusing this flaw.
• An unexpected message in the WebGPU IPC framework could lead to a use-after-free and exploitable sandbox escape. We have had reports of attacks in the wild abusing this flaw.

That's Firefox 97.0.2 release notes for you.

People do not bloody understand security, they ask the wrong questions and they are obsessed about the wrong things. Lastly how many of you have a restricted (I mean normal, non administrator) account in Windows? 0.5%? Let's stop pretending you know anything about security then.

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi,
Should of said hell no

 

[Dr. Dro]

I know nothing about ESET NOD AntiVirus32, but I have a 1 year subscription key that was included in a combo I bought that you’re welcome to if you want it.

ESET NOD32 is my favorite out of the bunch. Whenever I need an AV solution (which is rarely), I use that. It has always treated me well, and is much lighter than the bloated mess Avast has become.

 

[qubit]

I don't think any business leader can speak their minds freely. I cannot think of anyone who has ever been candid aside from very few. John McAfee comes to mind but he became candid only after he sold his company, so actually I don't know anyone.

There are far too many laws and issues and as a CEO you're absolutely constricted in what you can say and how you can say it.

Take Apple, Facebook and Google CEOs recently. Lies on top of lies on top of lies in terms of them "not being monopolies".

As for me personally I've used Windows for almost three decades, have never had a single AV installed, I have Windows Defender disabled via GPO and I've never had malware. All AVs are bad, dangerous (since they require kernel level privileges) and Windows Defender is not an exception. They give you a false sense of security and they slow down your PC.

This is how you deal with security:

• Keep your software up to date, never let your web browser run if you see an update notification, subscribe to software updates
• Do install and use uBlock Origin and NoScript in your web browser
• Run any new untrusted software via virustotal.com which is not enough, see the next item
• Run any new untrusted software via e.g. SandBoxie (or better yet in a virtual machine) until you're well sure it's safe - then you can run it directly
• If you have to deal with externally provided documents of any format including documents, images, CAD, videos, etc. - at the very least run the respective applications in SandBoxie, better yet use virtualization

In a perfect world you should run your web browser in a virtual machine as well. Your web browser runs external (often malicious) code all the time.

I see no poll here "Is Chrome/Firefox/whatever safe to use?" Hell no.

• Removing an XSLT parameter during processing could have lead to an exploitable use-after-free. We have had reports of attacks in the wild abusing this flaw.
• An unexpected message in the WebGPU IPC framework could lead to a use-after-free and exploitable sandbox escape. We have had reports of attacks in the wild abusing this flaw.

That's Firefox 97.0.2 release notes for you.

People do not bloody understand security, they ask the wrong questions and they are obsessed about the wrong things. Lastly how many of you have a restricted (I mean normal, non administrator) account in Windows? 0.5%? Let's stop pretending you know anything about security then.

I think you're drifting off topic now and you know how the mods get about that round here so I won't engage with your comment.

My question has been answered and I've made the decision to ditch Kaspersky so this thread has achieved its purpose. So, if you wanna start a thread on general security and make these points, feel free and I could join you there. Heck, join my forum and talk about it there, if you like.

 

[Solid State Soul ( SSS )]

All this is just fear mongering, its not like Kaspersky would want to destroy its business by "deploying malware" on your PCs, that's just absurd, like what exactly do you think will happen ?
Oh russia will now be spying on me ?! they'll deploy malware!, they'll fry all american PCs that has Kaspersky in it ?!

please..... americans just love their daily dose of politics, i would say if your license have not expired yet i would still use it, but after that dont pay them unless things cool down.

I'v seen so many political fear mongering over the years that lead to nothing, just unfounded speculations and conspiracy theories, the goal of a bussnies is always to make money regardless of whatever, and am sure staff at Kasbersky would think its the ultimate foolishness to do something stupid that would tarnish their long lasting, billion dollars business during these heated times

 

[stinger608]

The facts are, this thread IS about politics - the politics of Putin.

No, this thread is about whether Kaspersky is safe to still use or not. Quit trying to get people into arguments with you as you so often do.

 

[bogmali]

The facts are, this thread IS about politics - the politics of Putin.

No, it is not. Thread closed since OP already made up his mind and some of you are just too stubborn to heed the "NO POLITICS" thing