Forced to Leave the United States, Kaspersky Replaces Its Antivirus with UltraAV

Kaspersky, the Russian cybersecurity company, forced to leave the United States, automatically replaced its antivirus with UltraAV, a product from the American firm Pango, in September 2024. A software update, over which Kaspersky’s customers had no control, led to the installation of this program on their machines, replacing the Russian publisher’s antivirus. The same substitution occurred between Kaspersky’s VPN and Pango’s Ultra VPN.

On June 15, 2024, U.S. authorities, accusing Kaspersky of collusion with the Russian state, ordered the company to cease its activities in the United States. Kaspersky stopped selling its products in the U.S. on July 15, 2024, and will cease all maintenance and updates after September 29, 2024.

In early September 2024, Kaspersky sold its American customer database to Pango. The Russian publisher sent an email to its clients, informing them that, thanks to UltraAV, they would continue to benefit from “reliable cybersecurity protection” and that they would receive “communications from UltraAV on how to activate [their] new account.”

However, Kaspersky’s message did not specify that the transition would occur automatically, without giving customers any choice. This maneuver caused widespread concern and numerous complaints among users of the Russian antivirus. Furthermore, to uninstall UltraAV, it is essential to use the internal tool provided, as the privileges granted to the antivirus render third-party uninstallation programs ineffective.

Pango defended itself, stating that Kaspersky had notified its customers ‘starting on September 5,” and that “notifications and details about the transition were published in the app, on their MyKaspersky customer portal, and on Kaspersky Labs’ web pages.’ For its part, the Russian publisher clarified that this automatic update ‘allowed users to avoid protection gaps during Kaspersky’s market withdrawal.’