Is Kaspersky anti-virus still safe to use?

For many years, Kaspersky Labs was an industry leader in computer protection and virus detection. The popular maker of anti-virus software was often the first to uncover vulnerabilities, beating its competitors to the punch and developing a reputation for innovation and intelligent engineering.

What many users failed to notice was the location of Kaspersky Labs, or the fact that the company had some very deep ties to Russia and the Kremlin. In the heady days between the end of the Cold War and the controversy surrounding Russian meddling in the 2016 election, many people were unconcerned that Kaspersky Labs was based in the former Soviet Union, but now computer owners are taking a second look.

So are Kaspersky Labs products still safe to use, or should you banish this once popular anti-virus software from your system and start searching for alternatives? While Kaspersky Labs continues to have its defenders, the jury is still very much out when it comes to the safety of the products it has developed.

Some of the most damning evidence concerning Kaspersky Labs and its ties to Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin comes from the Homeland Security Department. The governmental agency responsible for protecting critical infrastructure and commercial aviation has already banished Kaspersky products from its networks and warned ordinary computer users against its use.

In issuing its warning about Kaspersky Labs, the Homeland Security Department claimed to have uncovered a number of backdoors in the company’s popular anti-virus and consumer protection products. And while the people at Kaspersky Labs claim those so-called back doors are actually standard parts of the engineering process, others are not so sure.

With so many unanswered questions swirling around Kaspersky Labs its understandable why some consumers are questioning the overall security of the anti-virus software and although the US government is advising its people not to use Kaspersky it doesn’t mean to say that other users of the product can’t continue to use Kaspersky to protect their computer from unwanted viruses and threats.

On the other hand if you do not trust the Russian government with your computer or your data, it may be time to follow the US government’s lead and give Kaspersky Labs the boot and find an alternative.

Aside from the accusations Kaspersky has received there has been no evidence to suggest that such acts have taken place.

A report from the BBC in December 2017 mentions that chief executive of the company, Eugene Kaspersky, stated “We don’t do anything wrong. We would never do that. It’s simply not possible.”

“It’s not true that the Russian state has access to the data. There are no facts about that.”

Eugene Kaspersky also said that he would move his business out of the country if he was ever asked to hand over data to the Russian state.

Do you use Kaspersky? What are your thoughts on the security of Kaspersky software? You can comment in the section below to share your thoughts.

Kaspersky Internet Security 2019