Russia Has Turned Kaspersky Software Into Tool for Spying; Searches exploited popular Russian-made antivirus software 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...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inWSJ Pro. Cyber Security
Main Authors Harris, Shane, Lubold, Gordon
Format Trade Publication Article
LanguageEnglish
Published New York Dow Jones & Company Inc 11.10.2017
Subjects
Anti-virus software
Classified information
Computers
Espionage
Harris, Shane
Malware
National security
Personal computers
Iran
United States > US
Israel
Russia
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Summary: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. [...]in an adjustment to its normal operations that the officials say could only have been made with the company's knowledge, the program searched for terms as broad as "top secret," which may be written on classified government documents, as well as the classified code names of U.S. government programs, these people said. [...]that decision was made, Kaspersky software was authorized for use in 22 government agencies, U.S. officials have said.