US Kaspersky customers report replacement antivirus software forcibly installed after ban
Kaspersky customers in the US have discovered that their antivirus software has been replaced without warning with a new solution called UltraAV.
The US government recently passed a law banning the sale of Kaspersky security software and its updates for installed software, causing the company to withdraw from the US market.
Customers reported on social media that the update was pushed out without them being able to accept or decline UltraAV, despite email notifications being sent at least a few weeks prior to the update.
Demonstration of the danger of Kaspersky
The U.S. has long alleged that the Russian government can manipulate Kaspersky software to give up secrets and control over computers on which the software is installed. First, it banned the use of Kaspersky products within federal agencies. As of July 20, a complete ban on commercial sales will follow. Finally, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) imposed a ban on the use of Kaspersky software in telecommunications equipment in early September 2024.
At about the same time as the FCC’s ban, Axios reported that Kaspersky had transferred its antivirus customers to the Pango Group, owner of UltraAV.
Kaspersky confirmed the transition in a post by Vadim M. on the company’s forum, in which he said: “Kaspersky has also partnered with UltraAV to make the transition to their product as smooth as possible. Therefore, on 19/9, US Kaspersky antivirus customers received a software update that enabled the transition to UltraAV. This update ensured that users would not experience a gap in protection upon Kaspersky’s exit from the market.”
Former National Security Agency cybersecurity director Rob Joyce commented on the transition X (formerly Twitter), saying: “This is why giving root-level access to Kaspersky was a huge risk. Users were “migrated” – software was uninstalled and a completely different product was automagically installed. They had full control over your machine.” It’s worth noting that some antivirus products and anti-cheat software often use root-level access to scan for malicious files or software used to cheat in games.
Ny Breaking reached out to UltraAV for additional context on the nature of the transition, but the company did not immediately respond. Any subsequent updates will be posted here.
Via TechCrunch