Kaspersky is starting to shut down its business in the US but before it goes for good, it’s offering its customers free security software.
For the next six months, the cybersecurity company is promising current US customers access to free products as well as tips.
This is a one-time offer from the Russian software company as from September 29, it won’t be able to sell and distribute its products in the US. It has finally been blacklisted as a threat to US interests by the Biden administration after years of warnings. It had been banned for all Governmental use in 2017 – a move that Canada followed with in October 2023 – but this ban impacts consumers.
Winding Up US operations
Bleeping Computer reports that the offer was made to customers in an email thanking them for their “trust”. It arrived in inboxes just days before the company starts to wind down its US operations on July 20. This will include laying off staff.
Kaspersky’s fate was sealed when its name appeared on the US’s Government’s Entity List. Gina Raimondo, the Secretary of Commerce, explained: “Russia has shown time and again they have the capability and intent to exploit Russian companies, like Kaspersky Lab, to collect and weaponize sensitive US information, and we will continue to use every tool at our disposal to safeguard US national security and the American people.” Kaspersky responded that the judgement made “…business opportunities in the country [US] …no longer viable.”
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For current customers, this means they won’t get automatic updates and antivirus definitions for their software. Instead they might have throw caution to the wind and resort to downloading directly from the company’s website. This is only if Kaspersky enables this option. There are plenty of antivirus alternatives though and we’ve rounded up some of the best on the market for you.
Caution Encouraged in Europe Too
It’s not just the US where Kaspersky is feeling the heat. The German Government started advising its citizens against using Kaspersky’s antivirus software in March 2022. Its Office for Information Security (BSI) stated that “a Russian IT manufacturer can carry out offensive operations itself, be forced to attack target systems against its will, or be spied on without its knowledge as a victim of a cyber operation or be misused as a tool for attacks against its own customers.”
EU lawmakers are pushing for a ban in use across the bloc for governmental uses, with Kaspersky targeted alongside Chinese social media giant TikTok; and telecommunications company, Huawei. All three are being accused of allowing “…foreign governments [to meddle] in the Continent’s politics through disinformation, cyberattacks, and the disruption of critical infrastructure”, said Politico. One Latvian lawmaker told the website that these measures were absolutely necessary because “democracy is under attack”.
Kaspersky continues to deny any kind of relationship with the Russian government. Responding to the German government’s bid to ban it in a statement to Motherboard, Kaspersky said: “We believe this decision is not based on a technical assessment of Kaspersky products – that we continuously advocated for with the BSI and across Europe – but instead is being made on political grounds.”
The beleaguered software company is now waiting to see if any countries follow the US’s lead and no doubt looking for new markets in which to sell its wares.
