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w1z4rd
Karmic Sangoma
- Joined
- Jan 17, 2005
- Messages
- 49,747
If you like Putin, then ignore the rest and insert some mindless comment about how much Putin rocks, be sure to mention tinfoil hat, and dont forget to include a "whataboutism" by blaming another country (almost always the US). If you are not indoctrinated and have the same concerns as me, then please continue reading.
I was reading today about the release of the new KasperskyOS. And I noticed its being specifically designed to run ICS (industrial control systems) and IoTs. So effectively, this OS is not just being setup to run the IoT`s, its also being setup to manage water treatment, power grids and other critical infrastructure. So basically it targets the two things state hackers want most access to. Your IoT devices (webcams, phones, etc) - For information gathering. And ICS...
For a while now I have being skeptical of Kaspersky Labs. I know they make a great antivirus and a good product and its not their product I am concerned about but rather the ethic running that product. Russians make high quality software and that is evident in Kaspersky AV, and while I personally do not trust it, its absolutely not because of the quality of their product. I have never found fault with it and I have never seen fault with it, all indicators show that it a high quality product.
However, that aside, the reason I wont run it is because there is too much doubt there for me.
As someone who has spent a lot of time researching and watching the rise of Putin in Russia I am not even in the slightest confused about how stuff runs there. Nothing runs without Putins say so and nod and nothing as important and successful as Kaspersky runs without absolute FSB oversight in some form or another. This is is Russia's premier cyber security firm in a country infamous for cybersecurity issues. They have pulled down many online criminal cartels in Russia (that clearly did not have Putins approval to operate). So a company so intertwined within the security apparatus of the country that is run by the smartest totalitarian president is watched (I wont say directly managed) closely.
The central ethos of the KGB and now under its new name, the FSB is that of control. If you can understand the philosophy behind the KGB then you can get a good understanding into the mindset of the people it produces. Both Kaspersky and Putin are products of that philosophical system. In the 90`s with the soviet union falling. Kaspersky left military intelligence (where he was known as brilliant and worked on top secret operations) and started his own company. While many Russians were doing this at around this time, what makes this remarkable is that you dont just leave Russian Military intelligence, unless you are sick and dying.
Yet a connection from his time he served in the KGB backed, Institute of Cryptography, Telecommunications, and Computer Science managed to get him out to work in the private industry. Today Kaspersky is known to work with the silovik. Obviously I am not the first person with these types of concerns and when questioned if Kaspersky was compromised by the government, Kaspersky responded that the FSB has never asked him to do such. Really? Is that a fact or an alt fact? So strange silovik decided to be gentlemen in this one area of national importance and I know I can totally trust the word of an x KGB Military Officer (who has a strong track record of not revealing russian military operational information he has done) ....
That enough for me is a huge flag. If I was the FSB I would have asked for access!
While I note with respect the good work that Kaspersky Labs has done in fighting espionage malware, I have noticed that work often coincides with Putins geopolitical interests. Such as the discovery of Flame attacking Iran (a couple of years after Stuxnet).
Now most of what I said is public record and can be verified, there is some of my own opinion in there.
For the average person, none of what I said means anything to you and I am pretty sure that Kaspersky AV will meet your needs and not at risk. However, to dissidents, pro democracy activists and government systems.... well, I dont have the faith to trust a closed OS to run my ICS controlled by those I know who like control.
I was reading today about the release of the new KasperskyOS. And I noticed its being specifically designed to run ICS (industrial control systems) and IoTs. So effectively, this OS is not just being setup to run the IoT`s, its also being setup to manage water treatment, power grids and other critical infrastructure. So basically it targets the two things state hackers want most access to. Your IoT devices (webcams, phones, etc) - For information gathering. And ICS...
For a while now I have being skeptical of Kaspersky Labs. I know they make a great antivirus and a good product and its not their product I am concerned about but rather the ethic running that product. Russians make high quality software and that is evident in Kaspersky AV, and while I personally do not trust it, its absolutely not because of the quality of their product. I have never found fault with it and I have never seen fault with it, all indicators show that it a high quality product.
However, that aside, the reason I wont run it is because there is too much doubt there for me.
As someone who has spent a lot of time researching and watching the rise of Putin in Russia I am not even in the slightest confused about how stuff runs there. Nothing runs without Putins say so and nod and nothing as important and successful as Kaspersky runs without absolute FSB oversight in some form or another. This is is Russia's premier cyber security firm in a country infamous for cybersecurity issues. They have pulled down many online criminal cartels in Russia (that clearly did not have Putins approval to operate). So a company so intertwined within the security apparatus of the country that is run by the smartest totalitarian president is watched (I wont say directly managed) closely.
The central ethos of the KGB and now under its new name, the FSB is that of control. If you can understand the philosophy behind the KGB then you can get a good understanding into the mindset of the people it produces. Both Kaspersky and Putin are products of that philosophical system. In the 90`s with the soviet union falling. Kaspersky left military intelligence (where he was known as brilliant and worked on top secret operations) and started his own company. While many Russians were doing this at around this time, what makes this remarkable is that you dont just leave Russian Military intelligence, unless you are sick and dying.
Yet a connection from his time he served in the KGB backed, Institute of Cryptography, Telecommunications, and Computer Science managed to get him out to work in the private industry. Today Kaspersky is known to work with the silovik. Obviously I am not the first person with these types of concerns and when questioned if Kaspersky was compromised by the government, Kaspersky responded that the FSB has never asked him to do such. Really? Is that a fact or an alt fact? So strange silovik decided to be gentlemen in this one area of national importance and I know I can totally trust the word of an x KGB Military Officer (who has a strong track record of not revealing russian military operational information he has done) ....
That enough for me is a huge flag. If I was the FSB I would have asked for access!
While I note with respect the good work that Kaspersky Labs has done in fighting espionage malware, I have noticed that work often coincides with Putins geopolitical interests. Such as the discovery of Flame attacking Iran (a couple of years after Stuxnet).
Now most of what I said is public record and can be verified, there is some of my own opinion in there.
For the average person, none of what I said means anything to you and I am pretty sure that Kaspersky AV will meet your needs and not at risk. However, to dissidents, pro democracy activists and government systems.... well, I dont have the faith to trust a closed OS to run my ICS controlled by those I know who like control.
