Kaspersky Leaves United States, Automatically Substitutes Software With UltraAV, Triggering Concerns
Antivirus provider Kaspersky has officially started retracting its offerings in the United States, shifting current users to UltraAV, effective as of September 19, 2024, preceding its formal departure by the end of the month.
“Kaspersky antivirus clients were provided with a software update to facilitate the migration to UltraAV,” the enterprise stated in a publication disclosing the action on September 21.
“This update guaranteed that users would not encounter a lapse in security once Kaspersky exits the market.”
The Russian organization, which was prohibited from vending its software in the U.S. due to concerns over national security, proclaimed that it collaborated closely with UltraAV to guarantee that the levels of security and confidentiality were upheld post-transition.
Notwithstanding, certain users who encountered the update have expressed their grievances on Kaspersky’s discussion boards and Reddit, asserting that Kaspersky’s software was removed automatically and substituted by UltraAV without prior notification.
In an FAQ section, UltraAV mentioned that “all Kaspersky U.S. users who had a valid email address linked to their accounts received email correspondence outlining the transition procedure” commencing on September 5.
Nonetheless, it seems that the notification allegedly failed to unambiguously state that the software switch in user systems would be an automatic process.
“I was utilizing Kaspersky, oblivious to the fact that they would be transferring us to some new [antivirus] in September,” one user posted on Reddit. “Nearly had a scare when I booted up my PC today and found a program that I did not install.”
An American corporation, UltraAV forms part of Pango Group, which also presents various other VPN applications like UltraVPN, OVPN, and VPN360. It highlights having more than 25 million active users across its product range, with over 650 million users served over the years.
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