US Kaspersky antivirus accounts sold to UltraAV with automatic service transfers occuring this month

US Kaspersky antivirus accounts have been sold to UltraAV, a division of the Pango Group. Pango was recently spun off from Aura, a security company founded by CEO Hari Ravichandran. Kaspersky was forced to abandon the US market after being banned by the Biden administration through a Final Determination issued by the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) on June 20, 2024. The action was taken to prevent Russia from collecting and weaponizing data on Americans.

Antivirus software has an unusual trait – it is given very high privileges that apps do not normally have. This is done so that AV software can find, isolate, and remove malware and viruses that are embedded deep within infected systems. Foreign nations can direct friendly AV companies to use these elevated privileges to monitor users, extract data, and control systems, and the BIS found that Russia was directing Kaspersky to do this with American computers.

The BIS prohibition forces Kaspersky US to halt all operations and antivirus updates at the end of September 2024. This does not affect the global operations of Kaspersky, so users outside the US can continue using the company’s software. As the final step in shutting down operations in the US, Kaspersky US has sold all accounts to UltraAV, a US-based security company. UltraAV states that it is completely independent from Kaspersky.

All million or so Kaspersky users will be automatically migrated to the UltraAV antivirus and service unless they take action. The service for current users will continue at the same price; the service for those repurchasing the AV will cost $47.88 for the first year, and then $149.99 annually thereafter. The AV service covers up to 20 devices and is compatible with Android, iOS (with limited services), Mac, and Windows devices.

Although Microsoft has greatly improved its built-in antivirus software, which comes free with Windows, paid AV software can prevent infections more effectively. Top alternatives include AVG, Avast, Bitdefender, McAfee, and Norton according to AV Comparatives, AV Test, and Virus Bulletin. UltraAV has not been tested by these three establishments, and the real-world performance of UltraAV is unknown.

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