The internal review stemmed from reports of a 2015 incident that linked Kaspersky’s antivirus software to foreign cyberespionage efforts, eventually lending to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security issuing a governmentwide ban on its products.
The investigation found only one incident from 2014 in which malware source code files were detected on a user’s computer after they had downloaded an illegal Microsoft Office application. That user was reportedly a contractor or employee with the National Security Agency who had snuck classified materials out of the agency and stored them on a home computer, which later became infected by a malicious backdoor that enabled third parties remote access, according to ars technica.
That worker’s home computer ran a home version of Kaspersky’s antivirus software. When he downloaded the pirated Microsoft programs, he first had to disable the software. It wasn’t until the software was re-enabled that Kaspersky detected the malware.
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