Kaspersky Labs makes an antivirus software that did a good job at finding viruses. Unfortunately, it has been discovered that it also does a good job at finding government secrets and other information it has no business finding. According to an article in The Wall Street Journal and other sources, Kaspersky Antivirus has been turned into a spy tool to find US government secrets. According to reports, it targeted specific terms including Top Secret and classified code names of US Government projects. In 2015, Kaspersky reportedly targeted an NSA worker who moved classified documents onto their home computer where they were using Kaspersky and it resulted in US Government secrets being leaked. Reports also state that the US government was informed of the leak by Isreali hackers that gained access to Kaspersky Labs’ systems and noticed the code targetting the US Government. The US Department of Homeland Security has now banned all government agencies from using Kaspersky products.

What Does This Mean For You?

To put it simply, don’t use Kaspersky Antivirus programs. I know that they have been targeting US Government secrets, and chances are, you don’t have any US Government secrets on your computer, however, an Antivirus software should not be snooping around your computer for specific files. This is a violation of privacy. It means that if you labeled something Top Secret and use Kaspersky, chances are someone in Moscow has read it. If you use a Kaspersky Labs product like their Antivirus or Internet Security, Y-Not Tech Services recommend you switch immediately.

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