Israeli hackers who managed to break into the systems owned by Russian-based security vendor Kaspersky discovered hacking tools that were stolen from the NSA, according to reports that were published by The New York Times and The Washington Post.
The Israeli officials then alerted intelligence agencies in the United States of a potential breach of their network, indicating a possible collaboration between Kaspersky and the Russian government.
US officials, including the US National Intelligence Council, has already informed NATO allies that Kaspersky customer database and source code might have been exposed due to a collaboration with Russia’s intelligence agencies, which could have allowed Russian hackers to launch attacks in both Europe and the United States.
Kaspersky, however, says that it’s not collaborating with Russia or any other government, also adding that it’s not aware of any breach following attacks launched by Israeli hackers.
The United States government banned Kaspersky software on computers used by its agencies and according to people close to the matter, the FBI is currently briefing public and private companies on the security risks created by software developed by the Russian firm.
Several retail stores, including Best Buy, have already stopped selling Kaspersky software, also launching support services to remove the antivirus from customers’ computers and install a different solution.
Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/israeli-spies-hacked-kaspersky-discovered-tools-stolen-from-the-us-nsa-517992.shtml
Submitted by: Arnfried Walbrecht
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