Page 11 - Computeractive - January 2, 2018 UK

? Wha t ’sthe t ruthbehin d

Question
ofthe
Fortnight the K a s perskyw a rnings ?

Security experts t old t he Government t o s top u sing it

t Computeractive we’re THE FACTS
Aproud t hat o ur top
priority is helping y ou to stay
safe. Y es, w e w ant t o a nswer • • The UK’s National C yber
your problems and g ive y ou Security C entre warned
tips, b ut they won’t w ork o n a the G overnment that using
hacked PC. B locking m alware Russian a ntivirus poses a
comes b efore e verything else. security r isk
So alarm bells rang when in • • The NCSC s aid h ome
early D ecember t he UK’s users s houldn’t s top u sing
National Cyber Security C entre Kaspersky ( used by 400
(NCSC) advised G overnment million people w orldwide)
departments n ot to use • • Kaspersky h as won t he
Russian antivirus s oftware. past nine Computeractive
In a l etter t o s enior civil antivirus tests
servants (www.snipca.com/
26504), NCSC’s chief e xecutive “no p olitical t ies to any
Ciaran Martin said “a Russia- government o r c ountry”, and
based p rovider s hould never has n ever been e ngaged in
be used” o n c omputer systems cyber-espionage.
dealing w ith i nformation One c rucial point L evy
classified “ Secret and a bove”. made has b een l argely ignored.
By “Russia-based p rovider” how t o d evelop “ verifiable time and a gain it has p rovided He said that Russia is similarly
he meant K aspersky, w hich measures to prevent t he the b est d efence for h ome cautious about using “ Western
has i ts headquarters in transfer o f U K d ata to the users a gainst common products”. Y ou won’t fi nd
Moscow. I ts software has w on Russian state”. cyber-criminals. Kremlin computers r unning
the p ast n ine Computeractive So where d oes t hat l eave If you’re happy w ith software made by Symantec,
antivirus t ests, the l atest o f our r ecommendation to use Kaspersky’s p rotection you Malwarebytes, T rend Micro,
which a ppeared i n o ur last Kaspersky? Should we should stick w ith i t. That’s n ot McAfee and m any o ther
issue, c oinciding w ith t he reappraise our v erdict? just our a dvice, but also the companies considered s afe b y
NCSC’s. I n a b log p ost ( www. most UK users. But t here’s no
Whatever you d o, don’t panic. snipca.com/26505) I an Levy, suggestion that Symantec is
spying on people f rom
S aint
the C entre’s T echnical Director,
W e really d on’t want people r ipping said there’s n o “ compelling Petersburg to Vladivostok.
case” f or discouraging
Let’s b e c lear. R ussian
out K aspersky s oftware individuals or businesses hacking p oses a g rave threat
from using K aspersky. to the U K. Levy says Russia
He added: “Whatever you will remain a d anger e ven i f
NCSC’s warning. Our a nswer i s t hat t here’s do, d on’t panic. F or example, Kaspersky a nd the N CSC do
The Centre’s concern stems nothing to suggest K aspersky is we really don’t want people find a m ethod t o v erify t he
from how a ntivirus programs unsafe on home computers. In doing things like r ipping o ut security of the c ompany’s
report details of attacks t o i ts fact, a ll the e vidence points to Kaspersky s oftware”. Such products. But t here are n o
developers. Th is information, the c ontrary. I n o ur most nuanced a dvice g ot drowned facts l inking Kaspersky -
if intercepted by a h ostile recent test it was o ne of only out in the h ysterical ‘ Putin i s which h as offices in 31
government, could be used to two p rograms to block every spying on you’ headlines. countries, a nd is run t hrough
steal sensitive d ata or launch threat (Symantec’s N orton In a b id to dispel a h olding c ompany in London
cyber-attacks. There is no was t he other). misinformation, K aspersky - w ith K remlin-backed h ackers.
evidence whatsoever linking True, o ur antivirus t ests have has l aunched a s ite ( ‘Can I Unless y ou happen to run a
Kaspersky t o t he Kremlin, never c hecked whether trust K aspersky Lab?’, www. highly sensitive G overnment
but nonetheless t he NCSC is Kaspersky h as infiltrated the snipca.com/26500) a nswering department, t here’s no reason
discussing w ith t he company UK’s corridors of power. But key a llegations. I t s tates it has to stop u sing it.

20 December 2017 – 2 J anuary 2 018 11