Do I need to care if my Kapersky account is deleted?
August 28, 2024 9:57 AM Subscribe
I got a notice from Kapersky this morning that my account has been inactive and they would delete it unless I did various things. I had no idea I had a Kapersky account at all. In Googling, it looks like the U.S. is telling consumers to delete their Kapersky accounts for security reasons, and also that this is upsetting a lot of people. If I didn't know I had an account, is losing it going to cause me any problems? If so, what should I do?
I bought a new Windows laptop several months ago so I'm assuming the Kapersky account was somehow bundled into that purchase. My cell phone is an Android, so no Mac/Apple products, in case that matters.
I bought a new Windows laptop several months ago so I'm assuming the Kapersky account was somehow bundled into that purchase. My cell phone is an Android, so no Mac/Apple products, in case that matters.
Response by poster: I'm not planning on clicking anything in the email, but searching showed that it was an actual email that Kapersky has actually been sending out to people.
posted by lapis at 11:14 AM on August 28, 2024
posted by lapis at 11:14 AM on August 28, 2024
Best answer: On your Windows laptop, go to Settings/Apps/Apps & Features and look for Kaspersky (pedantic note to assist with search: Kasp, not Kap). If you have any Kaspersky products listed, uninstall them. This should make your machine revert to relying on the Windows Defender security suite that MS has been including in every Windows version since Windows 7.
The most likely reason for finding Kaspersky or any other third-party anti-malware software installed on your Windows box is that your OEM did a deal with the anti-malware vendor to include it with a view to scamming you into "renewing" a subscription at some point. It's certainly not been done in your best interests.
After you've completed the removal of any presumed-superfluous "security" software, restart Windows once and then check the Windows Security Center to make sure that Defender is indeed now active.
It's not so much that Kaspersky makes worse anti-malware tools than anybody else, it's that they're all about as bad as each other and none of them are worth paying extra for. Windows Defender has been plenty good enough since it and Microsoft Security Essentials got smooshed together for Windows 8, and it doesn't require you to maintain any kind of subscription, not even a Microsoft Account. As long as you've got Windows Updates turned on, you get Defender updates along with.
As for the mail: delete and forget.
posted by flabdablet at 1:36 PM on August 28, 2024 [4 favorites]
The most likely reason for finding Kaspersky or any other third-party anti-malware software installed on your Windows box is that your OEM did a deal with the anti-malware vendor to include it with a view to scamming you into "renewing" a subscription at some point. It's certainly not been done in your best interests.
After you've completed the removal of any presumed-superfluous "security" software, restart Windows once and then check the Windows Security Center to make sure that Defender is indeed now active.
It's not so much that Kaspersky makes worse anti-malware tools than anybody else, it's that they're all about as bad as each other and none of them are worth paying extra for. Windows Defender has been plenty good enough since it and Microsoft Security Essentials got smooshed together for Windows 8, and it doesn't require you to maintain any kind of subscription, not even a Microsoft Account. As long as you've got Windows Updates turned on, you get Defender updates along with.
As for the mail: delete and forget.
posted by flabdablet at 1:36 PM on August 28, 2024 [4 favorites]
Response by poster: Thank you! I fixed the spelling in the tag at least.
This was the announcement about it being banned by the US Dept of Commerce, which includes this:
Thanks, flabdablet.
posted by lapis at 2:31 PM on August 28, 2024
This was the announcement about it being banned by the US Dept of Commerce, which includes this:
Today’s Final Determination and Entity Listing are the result of a lengthy and thorough investigation, which found that the company’s continued operations in the United States presented a national security risk—due to the Russian Government’s offensive cyber capabilities and capacity to influence or direct Kaspersky’s operations—that could not be addressed through mitigation measures short of a total prohibition.So I was mostly checking to see if "finding suitable alternatives" involves anything more complicated than making sure I have other antivirus software. Posts online were talking about downloading data in ways that made no sense to me.
Individuals and businesses that utilize Kaspersky software are strongly encouraged to expeditiously transition to new vendors to limit exposure of personal or other sensitive data to malign actors due to a potential lack of cybersecurity coverage. Individuals and businesses that continue to use existing Kaspersky products and services will not face legal penalties under the Final Determination. However, any individual or business that continues to use Kaspersky products and services assumes all the cybersecurity and associated risks of doing so.
In order to minimize disruption to U.S. consumers and businesses and to give them time to find suitable alternatives, the Department’s determination will allow Kaspersky to continue certain operations in the United States—including providing anti-virus signature updates and codebase updates—until 12:00AM Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) on September 29, 2024.
Thanks, flabdablet.
posted by lapis at 2:31 PM on August 28, 2024
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If you don't share passwords across accounts and you don't use Kaspersky for anything, then you're probably safe to ignore it.
posted by blnkfrnk at 10:43 AM on August 28, 2024