Kaspersky Launches Free Antivirus Software

Megalith

Megalith

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Kaspersky Lab has announced the launch of Kaspersky Free, which, as you can assume by the name, is a version of its antivirus software that you can keep at no cost. While this edition will lack many features from the paid version, such as Parental Control, Online Payment Protection, and Secure Connection (VPN), the company believes it’s a far better solution than the other free security software out there, including Windows Defender.

Last year the product successfully piloted in the Russia-Ukraine-Belarus region, in China, and also in the Nordic countries (that’s Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland, in case you were wondering). I say successfully… – that would be an understatement; for with practically zero promo activity Kaspersky Free was installed several million times, in doing so cranking up our market share considerably. Not that increasing market share is our aim; our aim is to raise the overall level of protection on the Internet. Anyway, here’s thanks to all Kaspersky Free users for helping us save the world!
 
Just in time to counteract the negative publicity of not being allowed on US Government machines.

Kaspersky = FSB access to your PC and data.

Anyway, here’s thanks to all Kaspersky Free users for helping us save the world!
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LOL
 
Also includes backdoor to your system..... -From Russia with love :kiss:
 
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SomeoneElse said:
Also includes backdoor to your system..... -From CISCO/MICROSOFT/HP with love :kiss:
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corrected it for those in russia/china

but seriously, has the company been found to have been doing anything shady? I mean besides being in russia?

I mean with the whole CIA/FBI/ETC leaks that have been passed around the world and how they have worked, the rest of the world has more probable cause to distrust a US company, then we do a non US company
 
spugm1r3 said:
I'll be honest, despite using their software for years, I'm a little wary these days. It's a little hard right now to parse the free market from the state-sponsored in that part of the world .
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Yep. Antivirus is for noobs anyway.
 
katanaD said:
corrected it for those in russia/china

but seriously, has the company been found to have been doing anything shady? I mean besides being in russia?

I mean with the whole CIA/FBI/ETC leaks that have been passed around the world and how they have worked, the rest of the world has more probable cause to distrust a US company, then we do a non US company
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Actually that statement is true for here in the US too. We all know those backdoors are used on domestic PC's too. I'm just poking fun.
 
I wonder if this means KVRT will be phased out. It is a free scan/removal tool, compiled every day.

Bitdefender stopped offering their free online scanner, which now redirects to Bitdefender Free Edition and Home Scanner.

ESET Online Scanner is still available.

Also, Trend Micro HouseCall.

I run these and Malwarebytes every once in a while just for curiosity. They never find anything though, wasting my time. Kaspersky and Bitdefender did at one point have the highest detection rates <shrug> but I don't keep up with that.
 
Has there ever been definitive links shown to exist between Kaspersky and the Russian government, or is this all just FUD?
 
c3k said:
Has there ever been definitive links shown to exist between Kaspersky and the Russian government, or is this all just FUD?
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No, and there never will be...because Russia knows how to play the game.
 
Free? Hmm. Due to the political realm, and the US Govt pulling Kaspersky's approval, and the concerns that Russia has its fingers in the A/V, it is understandable they want to try to woo customers. I do not know if Free is the way to go.

Bitdefender has a free version, seems to work.
 
No one should be running 3rd party anti-virus now that Windows Defender is viable. The only party with a vested interest in protecting the integrity of your OS is the company that makes it. Everyone else is just a financial misstep away from purposely providing a backdoor to the right bidder.
 
Windows Defender is viable, but... due to Microsoft allowing it to languish in the not so distant past, I have to question it.... and does independent testing prove it is really ready for prime time?
McAfee was bought out by Intel, then 49% sold to a different company. However, Intel does have a monetary incentive. Viruses (software) makes their hardware look bad (and the average Joe user does not differentiate between hardware and software.)
 
the-one1 said:
What's the catch? There's always a catch with "free".
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It's a basic "ad free" av without all the unnecessary bells and whistles of paid suites.
With a bigger installed user base it will give them more numbers to work with to better hone their machine learning.
 
Shagittarius said:
No one should be running 3rd party anti-virus now that Windows Defender is viable.
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Stop. Just stop. Defender on Win10 is viable. Anything prior and Defender is a fucking mess. Also, the key word is VIABLE. Not "good".

That being said... right now, the free AV sector is doing really well. AVG/Avast (same company now), Avira, and Panda are knocking it out of the park. Defender on Win10 is decent. Sophos is good, free, but a bit heavy on the system. There's simply not a good reason to PAY for AV anymore, outside of "tech support". And nobody here would be paying for tech support anyways.
 
Giving a Russian company remote access to my machine with admin creds?

Sign me right the fuvk up!

Not
 
It's possible that Russians are more trust worthy than Americans, but I doubt it.

I let MS defender do its thing
 
Hmm, I'll pass.
MS have given a great demonstration of what free means.
There are more reasons to be worried with this.
 
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