• The US has banned Kaspersky software — should you worry?

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    ISSUE 21.42 • 2024-10-14

    PUBLIC DEFENDER

    Brian Livingston

    By Brian Livingston

    The popular Kaspersky antivirus program quietly disabled itself on computers in the US last month, making millions of users fear malware had struck them.

    The switcheroo was prompted by the US government banning Kaspersky Lab, a Russia-based company, from sending updates to American devices after September 29, 2024. Kaspersky had sent out an email — which many users didn’t read or felt was unclear — before its app shut down on September 19. Kaspersky then remotely installed on US computers a little-known antivirus alternative called UltraAV.

    Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (21.42.0, 2024-10-14).
    This story also appears in our public Newsletter.