Israel hacked Kaspersky then tipped the NSA that its tools had been breached
Eugene Kaspersky
Last month  the Department of Homeland Security instructed federal civilian agencies to identify Kaspersky Lab software on their networks and remove it on the grounds that “the risk that the Russian government  whether acting on its own or in collaboration with  Kaspersky   could capitalize on access provided by  Kaspersky  products to compromise federal information and information systems directly implicates U.S. national security.” The directive followed a decision by the General Services Administration to remove  Kaspersky  from its list of approved vendors. And lawmakers on Capitol Hill are considering a governmentwide ban.
After the U.S. banned federal agencies from using Kaspersky Lab software in September  citing concerns over its ties with Russian intelligence services   Kaspersky  spokesman Anthon Shingarov called the move a “part of a geopolitical game.” (Associated Press)
 Kaspersky  said in a statement that “as a private company  Kaspersky Lab does not have inappropriate ties to any government  including Russia  and the only conclusion seems to be that Kaspersky Lab is caught in the middle of a geopolitical fight.”  The company  said  it  “does not possess any knowledge” of Israel’s hack.
 The firm’s founder  Eugene Kaspersky   said in a blog post last week that  his  anti-virus software is supposed to find malware from all quarters.
“We absolutely and aggressively detect and clean malware infections no matter the source ”  he  wrote  suggesting that the NSA hacking tools could have been picked up as malware by the anti-virus program.
Concerns about  Kaspersky  have also emerged in the cybersecurity industry  where some officials say that the firm’s software has been used not just to protect its customers’ computers but also as a platform for espionage.
 Eugene Kaspersky   chief executive of Russia’s Kaspersky Lab. (Pavel Golovkin/AP)
 Kaspersky  is also the only major anti-virus firm whose data is routed through Russian Internet service providers subject to Russian surveillance. That surveillance system is known as the SORM  or the System of Operative-Investigative Measures.
 The company  said that customer data flowing through  Kaspersky ’s Russian servers is encrypted and that the firm does not decrypt it for the government.
It is not publicly known how the Russians obtained the NSA hacking tools in 2015. Some information security analysts have speculated that the Russians exploited a flaw in  Kaspersky  software to filch the material.
But other experts say the Russians would not need to hack  Kaspersky ’s systems. They say that the material could be picked up through the country’s surveillance regime.
 The firm  is likely to be beholden to the Kremlin  said Steven Hall  who ran the CIA’s Russia operations for 30 years. He said that  Kaspersky ’s line of work is of particular interest to Russian President Vladi­mir Putin and that because of the way things work in Russia   Eugene Kaspersky  “knows  he ’s at the mercy of Putin.”
“The case against Kaspersky Lab is overwhelming ” said Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.)  a vocal critic of  Kaspersky  who has pushed to remove the company’s software from federal networks. “The strong ties between Kaspersky Lab and the Kremlin are very alarming.”
“That’s the crux of the matter ” said one industry official who received the briefing. “Whether  Kaspersky  is working directly for the Russian government or not doesn’t matter; their Internet service providers are subject to monitoring. So virtually anything shared with  Kaspersky  could become the property of the Russian government.”
Late last month  the National Intelligence Council completed a classified report that it shared with NATO allies concluding that the FSB had “probable access” to  Kaspersky  customer databases and source code. That access  it concluded  could help enable cyberattacks against U.S. government  commercial and industrial control networks.
Last month  the Department of Homeland Security instructed federal civilian agencies to identify Kaspersky Lab software on their networks and remove it on the grounds that “the risk that the Russian government  whether acting on its own or in collaboration with  Kaspersky   could capitalize on access provided by  Kaspersky  products to compromise federal information and information systems directly implicates U.S. national security.” The directive followed a decision by the General Services Administration to remove  Kaspersky  from its list of approved vendors. And lawmakers on Capitol Hill are considering a governmentwide ban.
After the U.S. banned federal agencies from using Kaspersky Lab software in September  citing concerns over its ties with Russian intelligence services   Kaspersky  spokesman Anthon Shingarov called the move a “part of a geopolitical game.” (Associated Press)
 Kaspersky  said in a statement that “as a private company  Kaspersky Lab does not have inappropriate ties to any government  including Russia  and the only conclusion seems to be that Kaspersky Lab is caught in the middle of a geopolitical fight.”  The company  said  it  “does not possess any knowledge” of Israel’s hack.
 The firm’s founder  [TGT]   said in a blog post last week that  his  anti-virus software is supposed to find malware from all quarters.
“We absolutely and aggressively detect and clean malware infections no matter the source ”  he  wrote  suggesting that the NSA hacking tools could have been picked up as malware by the anti-virus program.
Concerns about  Kaspersky  have also emerged in the cybersecurity industry  where some officials say that the firm’s software has been used not just to protect its customers’ computers but also as a platform for espionage.
 [TGT]   chief executive of Russia’s Kaspersky Lab. (Pavel Golovkin/AP)
 Kaspersky  is also the only major anti-virus firm whose data is routed through Russian Internet service providers subject to Russian surveillance. That surveillance system is known as the SORM  or the System of Operative-Investigative Measures.
 The company  said that customer data flowing through  Kaspersky ’s Russian servers is encrypted and that the firm does not decrypt it for the government.
It is not publicly known how the Russians obtained the NSA hacking tools in 2015. Some information security analysts have speculated that the Russians exploited a flaw in  Kaspersky  software to filch the material.
But other experts say the Russians would not need to hack  Kaspersky ’s systems. They say that the material could be picked up through the country’s surveillance regime.
 The firm  is likely to be beholden to the Kremlin  said Steven Hall  who ran the CIA’s Russia operations for 30 years. He said that  Kaspersky ’s line of work is of particular interest to Russian President Vladi­mir Putin and that because of the way things work in Russia   [TGT]  “knows  he ’s at the mercy of Putin.”
“The case against Kaspersky Lab is overwhelming ” said Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.)  a vocal critic of  Kaspersky  who has pushed to remove the company’s software from federal networks. “The strong ties between Kaspersky Lab and the Kremlin are very alarming.”
“That’s the crux of the matter ” said one industry official who received the briefing. “Whether  Kaspersky  is working directly for the Russian government or not doesn’t matter; their Internet service providers are subject to monitoring. So virtually anything shared with  Kaspersky  could become the property of the Russian government.”
Late last month  the National Intelligence Council completed a classified report that it shared with NATO allies concluding that the FSB had “probable access” to  Kaspersky  customer databases and source code. That access  it concluded  could help enable cyberattacks against U.S. government  commercial and industrial control networks.