Is Kaspersky Russian or Ukrainian?

There's been plenty of controversy surrounding Kaspersky over the years. The software giant has suffered from accusations that it was complicit in cyberattacks on journalists to suppress negative press coverage (though Kaspersky denies this), as well as allegations that its antivirus suite harbors malware for espionage purposes. In recent months, there have also been reports that the company is helping U.S. law enforcement agencies crack down on online criminals -- and some security experts are concerned about whether these efforts could be used against innocent users.

But one thing everyone seems to agree upon is that Kaspersky isn't all bad news. It's actually pretty good at what it does! And so long as you're not using their antivirus product, chances are your computer will run just fine.

That said, if you do want to use an antivirus program from Kaspersky, there are still reasons why you might decide to look elsewhere. Here's everything you need to know.

Does Kaspersky Share Data With Russia?

According to Reuters, "several former employees" say they were instructed to send information back to Kaspersky HQ in Russia when asked where specific files had come from. A number of those sources claim that this practice continued until 2013.

However, according to Bloomberg Businessweek, Kaspersky says that any such requests would only come after approval from U.S.-based legal counsel. Meanwhile, the Financial Times claims that the company denies ever doing anything illegal.

The bottom line here is that while some may believe Kaspersky shares user data with Russian intelligence services, others disagree. Ultimately, though, it'll depend on how much trust you place in the company's word and how suspiciously paranoid you are about surveillance. If you've got nothing to hide, then you probably don't need to worry too much about it.

Is Kaspersky a Russian Oligarch?

One thing worth noting is that Kaspersky itself hasn't denied the rumors that it's part of a massive Russian government conspiracy. Rather than deny them outright, however, the company has opted instead to defend itself and its reputation. As CEO Eugene Kaspersky told CNBC last year, "[We] always work very closely with our partners like Microsoft, Intel, Apple [and] Google because they represent the industry standards."

As far as he knows, Kaspersky has never shared data with anyone outside of his own team. He goes on to explain that Kaspersky's decision to partner with companies like Microsoft and other tech giants is based solely on market demand.

With regard to the accusation that the company's AV products contain malware designed to aid Russian intelligence services, Mr. Kasperski insists that this is simply untrue. According to him, the company employs more than 1,000 people around the world who analyze malware samples before releasing updates. Furthermore, he argues that Kaspersky would never release anything that didn't pass muster with its internal review process.

If you'd like to read up on the details behind this particular argument, you can check out Mr. Kasperski's article published on Forbes.

Is Kaspersky Owned By Russian Company?

While Kaspersky Labs is headquartered in Russia, the company is actually majority-owned by private investors. This means that the vast majority of the profits generated by the business go straight into the pockets of shareholders rather than being plowed right into R&D.

This arrangement dates all the way back to 1993, when Eugene Kaspersky founded his first company called Virus Research Center. Since that time, the company has grown exponentially and now boasts annual revenues of $1 billion USD. However, despite having offices worldwide, most of its staff members live and breathe the culture of Russia.

In fact, you can watch Kaspersky Lab's official YouTube channel if you're curious about the inner workings of the organization. There, you'll find videos explaining the company's history, new features, and various initiatives aimed at improving cybersecurity. You should also take note of the many different languages the company supports.

Does Kaspersky Support Russia?

For better or worse, Kaspersky enjoys a relatively positive relationship with both the United States and Russia. While Russia bans Kaspersky products due to alleged ties with foreign intelligence organizations, the US Government chose to keep it off of its list of sanctioned parties.

On top of this, the company has received awards from several prominent entities including the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA) and CISA. These accolades indicate that the company has made significant strides towards protecting consumers' privacy and providing high levels of protection.

At the same time, Kaspersky has also been accused of actively working alongside hackers to steal personal information. The company has gone so far as to call this type of activity "a war," which raises questions about whether it deserves to receive funding from state coffers.

Ultimately, Kaspersky remains one of the best antivirus programs available today. So unless you've got a particularly strong distrust of large corporations, there really aren't enough legitimate reasons to avoid using it. All things considered, if you're looking to protect yourself against viruses, ransomware, and other malicious threats, Kaspersky is easily among the safest options out there.

Check out the full guide to choosing the perfect antivirus for your needs.

Kaspersky Lab

Founded in 1997 by Eugene Kaspersky, Kaspersky Software House Ltd. (KSHL) originally focused on providing PC support services such as virus removal and system tune-ups.

In 2001, Eugene Kaspersky left KSHL, and he sold his shares back to the company later that year. After taking control of the company again, Eugene Kaspersky reorganized the company into two divisions, one focusing on computer hardware repair/support, and another focusing on anti-virus protection. By 2006, the company had grown so large that it spun off an independent subsidiary called Kapersky Labs Inc., which focuses primarily on developing new technologies rather than selling existing ones.

The first version of the Kaspersky Anti-Virus product came out in 1996, but the company didn't start making money until 2003 when they released their second generation product. Since then, sales have increased dramatically, and today Kaspersky makes more money through its security solutions than from any other source. As of 2009, the company claims to generate $1 billion in annual revenue.

Eugene Kaspersky remains president at Kaspersky Lab, while Igor Sysoev serves as CEO. Other senior executives include Alexey Belozerov, who leads business development, and Sergei Chernyavskiy, who heads R&D.

It's ironic that one of the most hated companies on Earth would have such an easy time getting into your computer.  The problem isn't just that they're selling software you don't want. It's also the fact that their antivirus tools are so bad at detecting malware that it gives them more power than ever before. And then there's the question of whether Kaspersky has ties to Russian intelligence agencies like FSB (Federal Security Service), GRU (Russian military intelligence) or SVR (Foreign Intelligence). The answer may surprise you...

If you've been following our coverage of security issues over the past year, then you know how quickly things change -- and this story about Kaspersky will undoubtedly become outdated very soon. So let me remind everyone why you should completely stop using any Kaspersky product from now until further notice:

Kaspersky was founded in 1997 as a part of the National Research Center for Medical Genetics named after Mstislav Keldysh. In 2000, the company launched its first antivirus program called 'Anti-Vir' which became available only through retail stores. A decade later, Kaspersky expanded internationally offering free anti-virus programs for Windows operating systems. Today, Kaspersky offers several different types of protection including full antivirus, internet security suites, mobile security suites, cloud services, web security suites, and email security suites.

In 2014, Kaspersky acquired another well known cybersecurity firm, Panda Security, but sold off some of its other operations, namely SecureIT Systems, which included Symantec's PC Tools business unit. This sale gave Kaspersky access to two of the world's largest consumer brands, Norton and McAfee, giving them significant market share across all major platforms.

Is Kaspersky owned by Russia?

Yes, Kaspersky is owned by Rostekhnologii, a Russian state corporation. However, according to Forbes, "Rostekhnologii" means literally "technology development." While the name sounds official enough, it turns out that the company has little to do with technology development.

According to the website, Kaspersky Lab is not funded by the federal budget nor does it receive subsidies from the government of the Russian Federation. Instead, it relies solely on revenue generated from sales of its products.

One thing I noticed while reading up on Kaspersky is that many people think the word "russkiy" ("Russian") actually translates to "kaspiroska," meaning "black cat". They say this because the letters "I" and "S" look similar. Is that true? Well, yes and no. Technically speaking, both words start with the same letter, but when spoken aloud, the pronunciation varies. If someone says "kaspirskiy", it usually comes out sounding something like "kassieezsky"; whereas if someone said "kaspiroshka", it'd probably sound closer to "kasperoschka."

So technically, Kaspersky could mean black cat, but it wouldn't make sense since cats aren't black.

Is Kaspersky still Russian?

Yes, Kaspersky Labs remains headquartered in Moscow, Russia. That hasn't changed since 1998. Even though the majority of employees work remotely around the globe, the Russian flag flies proudly above the building's front entrance.

While Kaspersky is based in Russia, its corporate structure consists of three separate legal entities: Kaspersky Internet Security Limited Partnership, Kaspersky Software Company LLC, and Kaspersky Technology Solutions Inc., each of which operates independently under the laws of the United States and various jurisdictions worldwide.

But what happened to the original founder of Kaspersky? According to Wikipedia, he died in 2004. Does that matter? Yes! Because his death certificate lists him as being born in Ukraine. Not surprisingly, many conspiracy theorists believe that Kaspersky is really owned by the CIA who used his dead body to create a fake identity. Some claim that he faked his own death and moved back to Kiev where he lives today. Others say he left Russia years ago and settled down in Spain.

Does Kaspersky have ties to Russian intelligence agencies?

This is a tough one to answer definitively. After all, Kaspersky is owned by Rostekhnologii, which happens to be run by Igor Alperovitch - former head of the Federal Protective Service (FSB) responsible for guarding top secret facilities around Russia. He recently stepped down due to health concerns.

There have long been suspicions that Alperovitch worked closely with Vladimir Putin's administration during his tenure as FSB chief. For example, in 2015 a leaked memo showed that he had written to Putin urging him to use cyberattacks against foreign countries instead of peaceful protests.

And just last month, news broke that the NSA hacked a server belonging to Kaspersky. That attack was allegedly carried out by the Shadow Brokers group, a hacking collective believed to be affiliated with the US Department of Defense.

But in 2016, Kaspersky CEO Eugene Kaspersky denied these claims saying that neither he nor anyone associated with Kaspersky were involved in the hack. The FBI didn't buy it either. At least four federal law enforcement officials told CNN that Kaspersky did indeed assist the NSA in identifying the hackers behind the breach.

Some experts believe that Kaspersky must be working with the Kremlin because otherwise, why else would they be targeted by the Shadow Brokers? Yet others suspect that Kaspersky is simply paying lip service to the idea that they're helping the feds catch hackers. Still others wonder if maybe Kaspersky hired the NSA to find the source of the leak.

Regardless, it seems pretty clear that Kaspersky is connected to the Russian government in some way.

Can Kaspersky be trusted?

Even though Kaspersky is clearly linked to the Russian government, that doesn't necessarily mean you shouldn't trust the brand. On the contrary, you might want to take extra precautions before installing anything from Kaspersky onto your system.

Of course, the best defense is always having good backups. You should also consider buying a second device that runs an alternative AV solution like Avira Antivirus Free, Microsoft Defender, AVG Premium, Emsisoft Anti-Malware Free, Avast Premier Pro, or BitDefender Total Security Plus. Just keep in mind that none of those apps come cheap.

Finally, if you absolutely cannot live without Kaspersky, try turning off automatic updates, deleting your browser history, and disabling file extensions. You'll need to install a third party tool like CleanUpCache.com to clean everything out. Then you'll need to manually uninstall every single component of Kaspersky running on your machine.

You won't get rid of Kaspersky overnight. But at least you'll minimize the risk that it might turn into a Trojan horse someday.

Russian cyber security firm Kaspersky Lab has been under fire for years now after it was revealed that they were spying on their own customers as well as third parties. While some of this activity may have stopped, there are many reasons you should avoid using any of the antivirus software from them going forward.

The controversy began when the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) discovered that Kaspersky had been monitoring users' computers without permission. In response, DHS ordered all state and local law enforcement agencies to stop using Kaspersky's products. This included FBI agents who used Kaspersky products at home while investigating cases.  Other countries followed suit.

While most governments seem to be happy enough with Kaspersky stopping its activities against other companies' data, they're much less keen about its activities against individuals. As such, not only did Kaspersky need to change its ways, but so did everyone else.

In June 2021, Microsoft removed Kaspersky from Windows 10 Pro and Enterprise systems. The removal came with an explanation that the software could pose "a threat" to user privacy. Then last month, Google pulled Kaspersky's Android apps from Play Store due to similar concerns. And just yesterday, Apple also announced it would remove Kaspersky from iOS devices.

This isn't the first time Kaspersky has come into the crosshairs over its practices. Back in 2018, Google pulled Kaspersky off its Chrome browser because of a similar issue -- namely, Kaspersky's links to a notorious Russian crime gang known as the Zlobnaya Logistika group.

So what exactly happened here? Is Kaspersky simply a victim of bad PR and unfair accusations? Or is something more sinister happening behind the scenes? We'll try to answer both questions below.

Is Kaspersky safe since its Russian?

As far back as 2014, Kaspersky was accused of being part of a massive network of hackers working for the FSB, which oversees Russia's intelligence services. These hackers were said to have infected millions of PCs around the world with malware designed specifically for espionage purposes. It wasn't until 2020 that Kaspersky publicly acknowledged these claims were true and that they'd been trying to cover up the problem.

Nowadays, however, things aren't quite as black and white. A leaked document obtained by Motherboard suggests that Kaspersky worked with the FSB to monitor targets across Europe including Ukraine, Germany, Poland, France, Italy and Spain. However, Kaspersky denies this claim saying it never provided information directly to the FSB.

There's reason to believe that some of Kaspersky's actions were sanctioned at least indirectly by Russian President Vladimir Putin himself. For example, one former employee claimed he witnessed several instances where senior executives discussed how to counter negative media coverage regarding the company's alleged ties to the Kremlin.

However, another former employee told Bloomberg TV that Kaspersky CEO Eugene Kaspersky personally approved his team's work with the FSB. When asked if he knew anything about Kaspersky employees helping out with surveillance operations in Eastern Europe and elsewhere, Eugene said, “I don’t know why I am supposed to know everything." He added that he wouldn't want to interfere with his staff's professional judgement.

Is Kaspersky still trustworthy?

Even though Kaspersky hasn't done anything wrong recently, it's hard to trust the company anymore given past allegations. So the question remains whether or not you want to put your computer's safety in someone else's hands. If you're worried about possible future issues like those mentioned above, then perhaps you shouldn't install those programs right away.

But if you do decide to take the risk, make sure you read our review of Kaspersky Total Security 2019 before you go ahead and download the product. Some of the best features include remote control capabilities that allow you to remotely wipe sensitive files from compromised machines, automatic updates, a built-in VPN server, anti-phishing tools and a firewall that automatically scans incoming traffic. There's plenty of good stuff here too.

If you've already installed Kaspersky Total Security, you can upgrade to version 19 free for 90 days. After that, you will pay $59.99 per year for access to premium features. That price converts to roughly £55 / AU$85 / €65.

Is Kaspersky still safe to use in 2022?

Despite recent events, Kaspersky says it won't reverse course anytime soon. Instead, it plans to continue improving its technology and educating people about cybersecurity. The firm has also promised to keep making changes to improve transparency.

On top of that, Kaspersky is currently working on creating a new public database called SecureList. This list will give people insight into who works at Kaspersky and what kind of projects they work on.

And finally, Kaspersky is launching a series of online seminars aimed at educating business leaders and IT professionals on how to combat cybercrime.

It seems the company is committed to doing better than ever in order to regain consumer trust. Whether or not it succeeds remains to be seen.

Is Kaspersky owned by Russian government?

Kaspersky says it doesn't belong to anyone. It's entirely independent. But some experts say otherwise. One article published by Forbes alleges that Kaspersky actually belongs to the Federal Protective Service, which falls under the jurisdiction of the FSB. According to this theory, the FSB gave Kaspersky a special contract to protect the Kremlin's interests abroad.

Another report published by Business Insider states that Kaspersky's founder Eugene Kaspersky was once arrested by the KGB and charged with treason. His case reportedly involved him selling military secrets to foreign spies during his employment at the USSR Ministry of Interior.

Regardless of the truth behind all of this, the bottom line is that Kaspersky does appear to have connections to the FSB and even the Kremlin itself. You cannot deny that fact.

Forbes points out that Kaspersky has always denied having any connection whatsoever to the Russian government despite evidence to the contrary. Perhaps they're telling the truth. Maybe Kaspersky is really independent. Who knows. All we can tell you is that you might want to steer clear of Kaspersky Labs until further notice.

If you're wondering if Kaspersky is the same company that sells AV solutions, rest assured it's not. Their main focus is protecting corporate networks rather than end users. They offer a wide range of services and products including cloud backup, endpoint protection and mobile device management among others.

But, again, you probably shouldn't rely solely on Kaspersky to secure your PC. Just remember to follow our guides to find the best alternative to each individual program. Don't forget to check out our guide to finding the best antivirus app for your needs either!