Some Kaspersky Customers Receive Surprise Forced-Update To New Antivirus Software 27
Customers of Kaspersky antivirus in the United States found out in the last few days that their cybersecurity software was automatically replaced with a new one called UltraAV, according to several customers. And while Kaspersky said earlier this month that its U.S. customers would be transitioned to UltraAV, many of its customers said they had no idea this was going to happen and that it would automatically be forced upon them. From a report: "Woke up to Kasperky [sic] completely gone from my system with Ultra AV and Ultra VPN freshly installed (not by me, just automatically while I slept)," a user on Reddit wrote. Others reported having the same experience in the same Reddit thread, as well as in other threads. A reseller, who until recently sold Kaspersky products prior to the recent sales ban, told TechCrunch that he was left "annoyed" by the move to automatically remove Kaspersky software and replace it with an entirely different antivirus. A former senior U.S. government cybersecurity official said that this was an example of the "huge risk" posed by the access granted by Kaspersky software. It's worth noting that, on the other hand, other customers did report receiving an email from Kaspersky about the transition to UltraAV.
Who owns my computer? (Score:4, Insightful)
Woke up to Kasperky [sic] completely gone from my system with Ultra AV and Ultra VPN freshly installed (not by me, just automatically while I slept)
More proof that you don't own your computer or any software on it.
Re: (Score:3)
You've never owned the software on it. You've only ever licensed the software. Granted with F/OSS it's a bit muddier into what ownership actually is, but for the most part you've licensed the software.
And Kaspersky is not software, it's a subscription. You bought a subscription for an anti-virus service. How it's provided has changed in that they gave all the leftover subscription to a new provider who removed the old software and installed t
Re: Who owns my computer? (Score:1, Offtopic)
this is just one instance of what i call "the fucktard problem," wherein an ignorant person (the eponymous fucktard) is so ignorant about an entire field of knowledge and practice that they are shocked by what is common knowledge to anyone who is not ignorant.
this is not so bad on its own, but the fucktard can often be recruited to join any moronic or counter-factual crusade that a puppeteer wishes him to.
tl;dr: social media has turned everyone into concern trolls of varying levels of willfulness.
Re: Who owns my computer? (Score:4, Insightful)
I understand what you are saying, but you are only partly right. We live in a complex technological world, and no person, no matter how educated or knowledgeable, can understand everything that interacts, overtly or subliminally, with his daily life.
Many of the so called "fucktards" you pejoratively dismiss are normal people who simply do not know about the things that interest the Slashdot crowd. Computers have become a de facto indispensible tool of modern society, so everyone has one, nearly everyone can use one, but many do not know the inner workings. If somebody buys a basic rig at Best Buy or Amazon, they know enough to turn it on and get their email, surf the web, pay their bills online, watch some TV. Even if they know that security concerns are part of the landscape, that they shouldn't click on phishing emails, that their rig has an antivirus program, they may not much about how any of that works. So, a forced update to a new provider may go unnoticed, or noticed with some head scratching, or maybe noticed with some sense of outrage. But, they are unlikely to know, as Slashdotters mostly do, that Kaspersky is under scrutiny, rightly or wrongly, and that they are shifting their accounts to another service, but even that is very recent news, even for some on this platform. That does not make them idiots or even generally ignorant.
Nor should they have to know this. Responsible companies, if there are any anymore, should be doing things respectful of their customers. It is just basic decency, the "golden rule" which nearly all cultures have some version of. In this case, the automatic update, as I understand it, was meant well, even if handled poorly, just making the rollover seamless to many people, especially those not technically sophisticated. Sadly, the reality is that basic decency and consideration for others has been sucked out of society by computers and the internet, by the real fucktards who run companies who sacrifice all decency and morality for more money than they need - but not every such incident is necessarily a breach of decency - and I don't think this one was.
By your calculus, we are all fucktards. If you drive to work or the grocery store, do you know how your car and its engine work? You shouldn't have to just to drive and get where you are going. And that is the beauty of mature technologies, that they work, or you can get seamless support when things break down, without knowing the underlying black-box engineering. If you know how to diagnose and fix your car yourself, so much the better, but you are not obligated to. Do you understand radio physics and technology to tune in your favorite station? Do you like to eat? Perhaps you understand heat physics and refrigeration technology to make you better understand your icebox, but most do not nor do they need to. Do you know anything about agriculture - nice if you do - but not necessary to buy and eat your food that someone else grew. ... and so on ...
Your comments seem to me to have a part truth, but the way you say it, you are typifying the modernist fucktard mentality that you rant against. Be kind. Respect the golden rule, and the world may look and act a bit brighter.
Re: (Score:2)
That's a fake, made-up concept of "ownership". No other species on Earth has that fantasy about ownership, not even the ones who understand "this is my territory" or "this is my bone".
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Re: Who owns my computer? (Score:2)
Re: Used to be russia, now NSA (Score:1)
No no no. Russia bad, you see?
In Soviet Russia... (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
...software runs YOU!
Hey, it's the US government who said that you can't use Kaspersky anymore.
Could have been worse (Score:4, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2)
Agreed, it's the least bad they could do.
They really got the hose for revealing the Apple CPU's backdoor in the GPU module earlier this year.
That must've been the spooks' crown jewel.
Julian got the hose for Vault 7 - analogous situation.
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... a surprise for those who don't read emails. (Score:3)
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What else is new. Those that complain loudest are always those entirely without a clue.
Free sw updates ... (Score:1)
This is not directed against Kaspersky, instead if a larger conflict broke out, russian FSB would knock on Kasperskys doors not entirely dissimilar to US knocking on doors and freezing $ deposits from Russia. The banks could say "no" to this, as much as kaspe
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This is entirely Uncle Sam's doing. Kaspersky is forced out through laws. Providing a maintained alternative upon exit is generous, imho.
Unless maybe you mean USA is the "enemy" here.
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The US clearly is the enemy. Customers should have a choice, not being forced into "buy domestic" by their government. Next up: Chinese electric cars. Apparently too much of a threat to the failing US car makers. Looks like you will have to buy too expensive cars for a while longer.
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I'm willing to bet the EULA says as part of your subscription software can be installed automatically. Given the nature of the update process, this is pretty much assured.
If you're going to block those updates, then there's no point to installing AV software at all - outdated AV software is worse than none at all.
Do they have ... (Score:2)
More finger-pointing (Score:2)
Once again, it's only bad when someone you don't like, does it.
Welcome to protectionism (Score:2)
Where the customer always suffers. You will now use software with NSA backdoors and you will like it.