Trust Your Security Vendor, ‘They Have Access to Everything You Do,’ Says F-Secure Research Chief

The DHS statement bans government agencies from using Kaspersky Lab products, saying, “The risk that the Russian government, whether acting on its own or in collaboration with Kaspersky, could capitalize on access provided by Kaspersky products to compromise federal information and information systems directly implicates U.S. national security.”

Herein lies the problem. Before developing anti-virus software and forming Kaspersky Lab, Eugene Kaspersky studied cryptology at a KGB and defense-funded school, and later worked at Russia’s Ministry of Defense as a cryptologist. So the link — and therefore the risk — exists. At the same time, however, any glance through LinkedIn’s staff profiles for U.S. security firms will return a large number of senior employees with an NSA, CIA, FBI or State Department background, with many U.S. security firms boasting about their former government and military hires. Connections alone do not necessarily imply collusion.

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