Only national spyware is allowed
this post was submitted on 21 Jun 2024
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This.
Most of the tech stack is american controlled and that is a security and privacy risk to everybody. From instruction set architecture to control over the social media. To American enemies, American allies.. american's themselves nobody is safe... probably the those that are best at mitigating said risk or take any steps at all are the American enemies.
McAfee should also be banned. That thing is near impossible to remove.
Avast Antivirus should be banned too, they did a lot of shady shit
But is not Russian, just like Instagram is not Chinese.
just like Instagram is not Chinese
Do you mean tiktok? Because it's quite a bit more Russian than Instagram is Chinese unless there's some crazy zuck is owned by China conspiracy I'm unaware of.
McAfee is not Russan, just like Instagram is not Chinese (I thought it was clear enough).
Yes it's a clear reference to TikTok, which I don't like for many many reasons, but none of those reasons is why it was banned, it's because it's Chinese.
reactionary nonsense just as it was when trump did it.
especially considering eugene has no love for the kgb.
(source: worked for kaspersky usa from 2011-2014 and have met him multiple times when he visited)
what antivirus are the cool kids using these days? i feel like whenever i finally settle on one it ends up embroiled in this or that scandal
The only real answer I’ve ever got from PC nerds is: None. You don’t need it. Just don’t be stupid. Easy.
Made me super uneasy when I was getting my first PC lmao
If you’re using Windows, the built in AV (Windows Defender) is actually pretty great. Maybe run Malware Bytes every now and then, (as in, install Malware Bytes, run it, then immediately uninstall it again). Between those two (and healthy browsing habits, like using an adblocker, not downloading random .exes, etc) will keep you protected. No AV in the world will be able to fully defend against bad browsing habits, so it all really comes down to that.
But this is Lemmy, so you’re bound to get buried in “just switch to Linux cuz Windows is a virus” stuff. And while that may be true, it’s clearly not the answer to your question.
Windows Defender + uBlock Origin with more filter lists + brain.exe in free tier
Tbh, uBlock Origin + brain.exe has been carrying the heaviest load for years for me. Windows Defender would catch 80% of the occasional slips where brain.exe wanted some risks, too.
Never heard of brain.exe could I get some more info and maybe an official link?
They mean themselves, their brain.
Welp, now I feel dumb haha
Oh no, not at all. First, you need to download the dependencies tho. Start with downloading more ram.
Ah, the blinker fluid of the computer world.
If we're talking windows, ditch the OS. It's the virus itself at this point. It's like asbestos. We had some fun. It was useful. But now we all know that it is flawed from the start.
I use Linux and only install software from the official distro repository + verified flatpaks. No av, no worries.
Seems reactionary, but maybe not
Not really https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/01/technology/kaspersky-lab-antivirus.html
Very creative how Kaspersky used SEO to hide this story. When searching you have to exclude all of their sites to find it.
Not everyone has a NYT subscription: https://web.archive.org/web/20180102011635/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/01/technology/kaspersky-lab-antivirus.html
Thanks for the link. The article is a whole lot of nothingburger. The entire premise of the article is that Kaspersky works as intended (just as any other security software) to flag files with certain phrases. Therefore, it can be used to find classified markings. Therefore, Kaspersky is bad... What?
So we should just ban all security software?
Why is it so hard to find a single piece of evidence that Kaspersky fucked up, or that their software has something in particular that is more risky compared to other security software. Anyone with more knowledge can explain plz?
Sounds like there is some other motive for doing this. Or they found something they aren't willing to tell us. But why?
From the article:
Mr. Wardle’s curiosity was piqued by recent news that Russian spies had used Kaspersky antivirus products to siphon classified documents off the home computer of an N.S.A. developer, and may have played a critical role in broader Russian intelligence gathering.
From the "recent news" article mentioned above:
Government officials, who would speak of the classified details of the case only on condition of anonymity, said that Mr. Pho took the classified documents home to help him rewrite his resume. But he had installed on his home computer antivirus software made by Kaspersky Lab, a top Russian software company, and Russian hackers are believed to have exploited the software to steal the documents, the officials said.
Honestly, I agree, it's a serious accusation against Kaspersky with very scant details and allegations made by off-the-record "officials". Having said that, just because they didn't present any compelling evidence doesn't mean it didn't happen. In the words of Carl Sagan, "Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence." I'm not sure where that leaves us though lol. Honestly, I don't trust Kaspersky with my data any less that with any of the other big antivirus companies. I guess it makes sense they would want antivirus software with CIA/NSA backdoors over alternatives though :p
Sorta.
Kaspersky has had some really shifty behavior in the past and even appeared to be working in concert with Russian govt, so imo this is a long time coming.
The timing, however, is reactionary.