Gadgetory

more details are emerging on how Russian hackers used Kaspersky antivirus software to obtain sensitive and classified u.s. information according to reports in The New York Times and Washington Post Israeli intelligence caught Russian hackers using Kaspersky antivirus as a hacking tool using it to secretly scan for information from computers around the world and that included some American government agencies so how did Israeli officials find this out because they too also were peeping into the antivirus to use it as a spy tool and when the Israeli officials saw what Russia was doing they learned in the United States Times reports that by using the antivirus as a tool to search for secrets Russian hackers stole classified documents from a National Security Agency employee who had Kaspersky install on his or her home computer and that home computer also had sensitive government information on it this all took place two years ago but is only being reported now and this new revelation explains why last month the United States ordered all federal agencies to remove Kaspersky products from their networks this particular antivirus is used by 400 million people around the world now Kaspersky based in Russia denies any knowledge of or involvement in the Russian hacking in a statement to The Times the company says it has never helped nor will help any government in the world with its cyber espionage efforts security experts say antivirus software can be a powerful tool for spies since the program has to scan every file to check for malware I'm Bridget Carey for more details head to cnet.com