This comes after Kaspersky decided to close its US operations and lay off US employees in response to the US government’s June listing of Kaspersky as entities – foreign individuals, companies and organizations – deemed to be of national security concern.
June 20 J. Biden’s administration also announced that from 2024 September 29 the sale of Kaspersky antivirus software and its updates is prohibited in the United States due to a potential threat to national security.
In early September, Kaspersky also sent an email to customers assuring them that they would continue to receive “reliable cybersecurity protection” from UltraAV (owned by the Pango Group) after Kaspersky stopped selling software and updates for US customers.
However, in these emails the letters did not inform users that Kaspersky products would be suddenly deleted from their computers and replaced by UltraAV without warning.
According to many reports from online users, the UltraAV software was installed on their computers without any prior notification, leading many to worry that their devices were infected with malware.
“I woke up and saw this new antivirus on my desktop, tried to open Kaspersky but it was gone. “I had to look up what happened because I literally had a mini heart attack, that I somehow got a virus on my desktop that somehow removed Kaspersky,” one user said.
To make matters worse, some users who tried to remove UltraAV using software uninstallers only found it installed again after a reboot, raising further concerns about a possible malware infection.
Some also found UltraVPN installed, likely because they had a Kaspersky VPN subscription. Not much is known about UltraAV, except that it is owned by the Pango Group, which controls several VPN brands (such as Hotspot Shield, UltraVPN, and Betternet) and Comparitech (VPN Software Reviews website).
#Fears #among #users #Kaspersky #installed #antivirus #program #warning #deleted #Business
2024-10-01 00:05:52
