Newspaper Article: Russia Has Turned Kaspersky Software Into Tool for Spying

[mouser]

Russia Has Turned Kaspersky Software Into Tool for Spying
Searches exploited popular Russian-made antivirus software [Kaspersky] to seek classified material, officials say
WASHINGTON—The Russian government used a popular antivirus software to secretly scan computers around the world for classified U.S. government documents and top-secret information, modifying the program to turn it into an espionage tool, according to current and former U.S. officials with knowledge of the matter.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/russian-hackers-scanned-networks-world-wide-for-secret-u-s-data-1507743874

That article is paywalled but hopefully someone will find a non-paywalled alternative soon.

[scancode]

Non-paywalled link: http://telegra.ph/Russia-Has-Turned-Kaspersky-Software-Into-Tool-for-Spying-10-11

[panzer]

https://www.rt.com/newsline/406387-kaspersky-lab-cyber-spying/
https://www.rt.com/newsline/406397-kaspersky-hacking-no-evidence/

[IainB]

Couldn't help overhearing at a local coffee-shop; two IT workers at the next table, talking about this very subject. This is how it roughly went:

Bloke #1: "I wasn't surprised about this Kaspersky hack news. Bound to happen. Typical bloody Ruskies, eh?"

Bloke #2: "Yeah. Same old same old. Can't trust 'em with anything. Nothing's sacred to them."

Bloke #1: "Right. But China's just as bad, of course. We all knew that already. Lenovo."

Bloke #2: "Yeah. Good job nothing like that could be done by government here or in the UK, or US for that matter, eh? [Pause] Ohhh, no..."

[Silence]

Bloke #1: "Right. Hmm. Now what was that old saying about people in glass houses...??
____________________________

I nearly choked on my coffee.

[rgdot]

Things like Equifax should be proof enough that getting in trouble with your personal info is a fact of life in the modern age. The things an anti-virus may or may not do are relative peanuts compared to details in a credit history.