Who gave you permission to put UltraAV on my computer?

[Bill J in Florida]

51 minutes ago, Tabby said:

It seems the options Kaspersky had were these:

1. pull out, disable/uninstall, and automatically refund remaining payments. Result? You go online and maybe don't notice the icon's gone, BAM, bricked devices, others crawling with every bit of malware out there.

Imagine you extended your license for Great Aunt Doris and she's been doing her banking all morning, passwords flying, and now she's just sent that nice man on the phone all her bank details. Meanwhile, your doctor's wondering where all her confidential patient files went. Including the local Senator's.  "Anti-malware giant goes dark overnight, leaving customer's to face ruin."

(Refunds at scale are complex as well, especially partial ones calculated for individual customers, so some would have gone wrong leading to both genuine upset and over-dramatised headlines.)

2. nag you with pop-ups incessantly after the US administration made this decision. I can't see that going down well, "Russia-linked company bombards US customers with thinly veiled harassment after White House calls time" etc

3. try to make the process as seamless as possible for people who've chosen to ignore, throughout all of July, and all of August, that Kaspersky could no longer serve them BY LAW.

It looks like they did the latter.

It also looks like the "literal who" they've replaced their service with is the main problem, coupled with the fact they didn't introduce and talk up UltraAV for a while beforehand (couple of pop-ups and an email or two) to get people used to the idea. But that would have cost money to the company, for a situation not of their choosing.

I think if they'd made some high-profile show of graciously handing over to a big name brand it would have FELT better, like a giant stepping out the market and handing customers safely to another world leader, maybe they could even have staged a photo of CEO's shaking hands, but (other issues aside) that would have just been PR and really, meaningless.

And come the deadline, they would still have had to either force the transfer or leave customers vulnerable.

Payment details had to be transferred since "Excuse me UltraAV, will you please provide services for all these customers for free, and no, we won't give you their data, you just need to make it happen somehow" probably wasn't going to work.

 

Treating your customers like they are total idiots who don't know how their PCs run is really dumb.

 

If we were dumb, why did we choose Kaspersky. It is because they are rated the best(And we don't trust software that nothing is known about aka Ultra AV). Software wise that is what Kaspersky is. Their communication and customer service skills stink and I have been saying that for five years.

 

Kaspersky and its defenders don't know how to deal with smart consumers. They are just doubling down that we're dumb and will just accept Ultra based on their word. Who's being dumb here?

 

 

Kaspersky and its de

1 hour ago, Flood and Flood's wife said:

Hello @Bill J in Florida,

As we're not sure which Kaspersky software (you) had installed, please select the correct EULA from: https://www.kaspersky.com/end-user-license-agreement

IF (you) can't access it due to the ban, post back with the name of (your) Kaspersky software & we'll upload it to cloud for you.

Thank you🙏
Flood🐳+🐋

Additional resource:

https://www.kaspersky.com/web-privacy-policy

I have Total Security. So which of those over 100 links gives answers.

[Tabby]

I agree this could have been done far better. I booted my PC yesterday and saw the Kaspersky update was taking ages, went to Twitter to see whether there was anything big going on, and read all about this. I'd have freaked out if that happened to me.

However I also felt some of the criticism was unfair, and a bit unrealistic. But such is life, I guess.

[NotAFan]

1) I never remember any email about this. If so I would have just wanted to cancel. The only email I see is today at 2:55 am.

2) You have handed our credentials and payment info to another company

3) You installed another piece of software without my express permission

This is a serious violation of trust/privacy and it would not surprise me if you have now opened yourselves up to serious legal action.

I've uninstalled ultraav. I'd rather rely on base windows protection than some company I do not know and did not do any research on, nor opt in to using. They just send me a malformed email with localized string tokens instead of actual text, etc. because I suspended my subscription, so that makes me trust them even less. Now I have to spend time trying to get my account info expunged from their systems. Not happy.

[Flood and Flood's wife]

37 minutes ago, Bill J in Florida said:

I have Total Security. So which of those over 100 links gives answers.

Hello @Bill J in Florida, 

Thank you for the information! 

Ordinarily we'd say: [EULA] - Kaspersky Total Security [for Windows®] *but* - we've asked @Danila T. to confirm? 

Thank you🙏
Flood🐳+🐋

[Tommie A Parker]

I checked the chart displaying the features of Ultra vs Kaspersky and it appears that banking or paying bills online is not protected.  Can you verify please?

[Flood and Flood's wife]

3 minutes ago, Tommie A Parker said:

I checked the chart displaying the features of Ultra vs Kaspersky and it appears that banking or paying bills online is not protected.  Can you verify please?

Hello @Tommie A Parker, 

Welcome!

Only by looking at the chart, we see what you see, Ultra does not have: 

Spoiler

Prevents your credit card details and financial data from being intercepted by hackers when you make an online transaction on your computer.

However, further down the same page: Will I receive the same features with UltraAV as I did with Kaspersky? says: "UltraAV provides the same level of protection and service as Kaspersky. UltraAV will also include Identity theft protection at no additional cost. This premium feature includes transaction monitoring, real-time alerts for signs of fraud, lost wallet protection, home title monitoring, $1M identity theft insurance and much more."

You may wish to seek clarification of what 'much more' covers - from: Ultra Secure AV Support Center, Submit a request? 

Thank you🙏
Flood🐳+🐋

[Chromdome35]

On 9/19/2024 at 1:25 PM, nexon said:

Hello, 

Welcome. 

To ensure safety it means Kaspersky is now replaced by ultra av in US. Because ban. 

And fully is automatic. I am sure you got a notification into mail or in program. 

Kaspersky needs to prepare to be sued....

You installed this without my permission, I can't cancel my subscription because the UltraAV server is just blowing errors.

I guess the US government's concerns were warranted.

I WANT MY SUBSCRIPTION CANCELLED. Give me the ability to cancel.

Edited Tuesday at 06:51 PM by Chromdome35

[Bill J in Florida]

40 minutes ago, Chromdome35 said:

Kaspersky needs to prepare to be sued....

You installed this without my permission, I can't cancel my subscription because the UltraAV server is just blowing errors.

I guess the US government's concerns were warranted.

I WANT MY SUBSCRIPTION CANCELLED. Give me the ability to cancel.

As of 3:23 EST Ultra secure is down. I don't what's more pathetic- Ultra AV, Kaspersky of handing off their customers to these bozos, or Kaspersky supporters who think us customers are making too much out of this.

Edited Tuesday at 07:30 PM by Bill J in Florida

[garioch7]

As a relatively new Kaspersky Premium user (May 2024), I have been following Kaspersky's actions very closely and also the feedback that is being received from their loyal US customers on this and other Forums.

I am a Canadian, living in Canada, so I am not directly affected by the US government ban.  Forum Rules prohibit me from sharing my opinion on the topic of the US government's ban to deny the right of its citizens to choose the AV solution they deem to be the best to meet their cybersecurity needs.

Like many, I am personally distressed that an alternate, unrated, virtually unknown AV solution was foisted upon US customers without their explicit consent when Kaspersky was banned there, by Kaspersky.

I think Kaspersky is the best AV solution I have ever used in my 36 years of using computers, but I will have to seriously consider moving on to another AV solution when my subscription expires, if this type of corporate conduct that Kaspersky customers can expect in the future.

From my perspective, this transition was very badly handled.  Kaspersky must demonstrate the utmost respect for its customers or lose them.

Customer communication was seriously lacking.  The rights and choices of US customers were not respected.  I predict that this imbroglio will not only cost Kaspersky US customers, which the US ban accomplished in any event, but it will also cost them customers in other countries who are watching with great distress what Kaspersky did to our fellow global US citizens who trusted Kaspersky.

In the end, there are no winners here.  US citizens have lost the right to use the foremost AV solution in the world. Kaspersky did not respect their wishes or those of other customers who have been witnesses to the SILENT FORCED installation of alternate software, not of their choosing and without their consent.

I believe my comments fall within Forums Rules.  I am attempting to provide Kaspersky with constructive commentary on how this transition was handled, but if this post and I disappear, you will know I was wrong.  It won't be the first time.

Good luck, my US friends.

Regards,
Phil

[maaidenshire]

4 hours ago, garioch7 said:

As a relatively new Kaspersky Premium user (May 2024), I have been following Kaspersky's actions very closely and also the feedback that is being received from their loyal US customers on this and other Forums.

I am a Canadian, living in Canada, so I am not directly affected by the US government ban.  Forum Rules prohibit me from sharing my opinion on the topic of the US government's ban to deny the right of its citizens to choose the AV solution they deem to be the best to meet their cybersecurity needs.

Like many, I am personally distressed that an alternate, unrated, virtually unknown AV solution was foisted upon US customers without their explicit consent when Kaspersky was banned there, by Kaspersky.

I think Kaspersky is the best AV solution I have ever used in my 36 years of using computers, but I will have to seriously consider moving on to another AV solution when my subscription expires, if this type of corporate conduct that Kaspersky customers can expect in the future.

From my perspective, this transition was very badly handled.  Kaspersky must demonstrate the utmost respect for its customers or lose them.

Customer communication was seriously lacking.  The rights and choices of US customers were not respected.  I predict that this imbroglio will not only cost Kaspersky US customers, which the US ban accomplished in any event, but it will also cost them customers in other countries who are watching with great distress what Kaspersky did to our fellow global US citizens who trusted Kaspersky.

In the end, there are no winners here.  US citizens have lost the right to use the foremost AV solution in the world. Kaspersky did not respect their wishes or those of other customers who have been witnesses to the SILENT FORCED installation of alternate software, not of their choosing and without their consent.

I believe my comments fall within Forums Rules.  I am attempting to provide Kaspersky with constructive commentary on how this transition was handled, but if this post and I disappear, you will know I was wrong.  It won't be the first time.

Good luck, my US friends.

Regards,
Phil

There is so much here that I agree with and regardless of forum rules there is no way to avoid the gist of this entire mess...politics.  If I want to use an invasive, privacy disrupter device, their browser and their search engine to shop for a brown sweater, find it on another monopoly entity's platform to purchase, that would be my choice.  My choice to do business with large entities who god only knows the country of origin of the respective potential investors or yachting buddies.  But I make my decisions and choices as I see fit.  I try to do as much research as possible and I also tend to be brand loyal if a product or service works for me.  For more than a quarter of a century, I learned a fairly decent amount about computing safety.  I have used other security products - paid and free, and ultimately would end up having to seek guidance from some of the generous volunteers who assist those of us who are lesser mortals when it comes to all things malware.  

I can say for sure, that I have not had to deal with any issues related to malware and other nasty negatives of computing.  I have been pleased with the offering's from Kaspersky and personally have not had anything to complain about.  Whenever it is time to renew my security, I start the same process.  I see what current research / reviews / rankings for all security products and services and make an informed decision - one that works for me but may not work for others.  Last December I decided to continue with Kaspersky and chose a multiyear package.  Obviously, this will not play out as expected.  But who the heck could've imagined such a senario we are now faced with, the one in which we are griping about Kaspersky past and present.  But we can't complain about Kaspersky without recognizing that this began in 2018 when an orange man in Washington took out a black "Sharpie" and signed one of those E O menus.  E.O 13873 set the stage, opened the backdoor for this situation.

I had used the Chat function last night to see if it was possible to receive some form of reimbursement for the product/service I will no longer be receiving.  I did receive the Septn 5th email from Kaspersky that mentioned a "trusted partner" named UltraAV would be keeping us safe and secure.  The problem that I have had is when I began my compulsive research, I was coming up with blanks on this "UltraAV."  I'm not talking about a one-time search.  I kept digging and wasn't thrilled that I really couldn't find a breadcrumb.  As days went by, info only began to trickle but I believe that solid bit of info was about an Indian based startup being involved in what is known as UltraVA.   Definitely not thrilled nor would choose any product that has no reputation and certainly has not been tested by the typical groups who run security software through the gauntlet of trials.

An answer to my refund request couldn't be answered at the time of the chat but I was promised a response via email.  Sure enough, KAspersky Support did reply later in the evening.  A great subject line - "Refund: Geopolitical Situation."   LOL, so true.  Kaspersky didn't go out of business, they didn't file for bankruptcy, their servers weren't hacked and shut down...this all occurred because a government decided they would really punish consumers by "banning" a product we all chose and purchased.  We know what has happened over the past few years, we know there have been selective, not unilateral "sanctions," but only those that don't affect the power players in the US.  So someone stoked the flames of hysteria because of where a CEO was educated and decided what a smart election PR move, let's use this EO  and ban a company whose CEO "has to be a bad guy" and a bad actor in terms of the company.  I'm not sure that this move really gains any votes but also in the email response was the following and I think this is the missing link. These are the folks to complain to. These are the folks that should equally be "banning" ship loads of products and services from the entities described in the EO.  I am glad that Kaspersky Support has this as part of their info sharing via email.  We are often stupid in the U.S.  We complain, complain and complain, yet we do so in places where it doesn't matter.  I'm sure the folks at the DOC would love to hear from as many dismayed, loyal Kaspersky customers who had their rights stripped away. 

"**If you have claims against the decision as it limits your security and freedom of choice, you can ask questions and express your position to the U.S. Department Of Commerce at https://www.commerce.gov/about/contact-us"

[Flood and Flood's wife]

17 hours ago, Bill J in Florida said:

Where is this EULA and where in it specifically says it gives Kaspersky the right to transfer billing information or anything else.

Hello @Bill J in Florida, 

Update! 

For USA EULA repository: https://usa.kaspersky.com/end-user-license-agreement

-> for KTS select: [EULA] - Kaspersky Total Security [for Windows®]

Thank you🙏
Flood🐳+🐋

[kai.kudou]

On 9/20/2024 at 2:25 AM, nexon said:

Hello, 

Welcome. 

To ensure safety it means Kaspersky is now replaced by ultra av in US. Because ban. 

And fully is automatic. I am sure you got a notification into mail or in program. 

Are you kidding me? The core issue has never been about whether we continue to receive protection, but rather that you do not have the right to make decisions for us. We have the option to choose an antivirus software without update capabilities, instead of having you decide to install something we do not want.

You should be offering us the option to switch to UltraAV or receive a refund, not automatically installing something without notifying us. If you continue to insist that your actions are due to U.S. government requirements, it shows you're not serious about addressing this issue.

If you can install UltraAV without our consent now, what's stopping you from installing any other unwanted software in the future?

[Tabby]

2 hours ago, kai.kudou said:

Are you kidding me? The core issue has never been about whether we continue to receive protection, but rather that you do not have the right to make decisions for us.

It was the US government who made that decision for you. I'm pretty sure Kaspersky would have preferred to keep having US customers.

i agree this was handled ineptly. Very much so.

Going by the user above who's still on W7, perhaps Kaspersky should, above all, have communicated that this wasn't an "unsupported browser" kind of situation, where software has a working life after updates end, but instead would be a hard rug-pull.

Was that what you were expecting to happen when the White House deadline, 30th September, finally hit? (That's a sincere question, not rhetorical or snark.)

Edited Wednesday at 09:57 AM by Tabby
typo

[Bill J in Florida]

9 minutes ago, Tabby said:

It was the US government who made that decision for you. I'm pretty sure Kaspersky would have preferred to keep having US customers.

i agree this was handled ineptly. Very much so.

Going by the user above who's still on W7, perhaps Kaspersky should, above all, have communicated that this wasn't an "unsupported browser" kind of situation, where software has a working life after updates end, but instead would be a hard rug-pull.

Was that what you were expecting to happen when the White House deadline, 30th September, finally hit? (That's a sincere question, not rhetorical or snark.)

Again you are insulting the intelligence of Kaspersky users. If we're smart enough to use the best software for our pcs, we are smart enough to know what is going on with our computers.

We're not dumb. Kaspersky, Ultra AV, and anyone who defends what was done are the dummies.

[Tabby]

7 minutes ago, Bill J in Florida said:

Again you are insulting the intelligence of Kaspersky users. If we're smart enough to use the best software for our pcs, we are smart enough to know what is going on with our computers.

We're not dumb. Kaspersky, Ultra AV, and anyone who defends what was done are the dummies.

No insult was intended, I am a Kaspersky user, and I'm not defending what they did as such, it was obviously handled badly. And I understand you're angry, and can absolutely relate to that.

Did you receive the impression the Kaspersky app would continue in a kind of stasis, like for example Windows 7 is still usable, despite no longer receiving Microsoft updates?

Edited Wednesday at 10:16 AM by Tabby
typo

[Bill J in Florida]

24 minutes ago, Tabby said:

No insult was intended, I am a Kaspersky user, and I'm not defending what they did as such, it was obviously handled badly. And I understand you're angry, and can absolutely relate to that.

Did you receive the impression the Kaspersky app would continue in a kind of stasis, like for example Windows 7 is still usable, despite no longer receiving Microsoft updates?

Again insulting customers. Your question implies any of us don't know what we're doing. You want to see a dummy- Look in the mirror.

[Danila T.]

Dear users, please refrain from mutual insults. Otherwise we will apply penalties according to the forum rules.

[Tabby]

No, I was sincerely curious what you thought was going to happen after a government-tier ban on this software updating. I was hoping to understand the situation more fully.

I'm not associated with Kaspersky, just a customer, this is because poor health limits my finances, and I'm currently using a system which can only run Windows 7, therefore need Kaspersky since afaik, apart from 0patch, which I haven't yet tried, there aren't many security products available.

I'm pretty sure I'm mostly dumb, but my intention was good - my skill with words however is definitely at fault if I insulted you, because that wasn't my intention. 🙂

Edited Wednesday at 10:52 AM by Tabby
typo

[nickle]

I think we should start moving on this. I just deleted all the Kaspersky apps, and my stored password from my devices and plan only to keep that Ultra VPN (seems to be the only somehow legit product in this deal) and recommend staying away from the company (great product, but after all it seems the US government was up to something... at last) My lose, but I should have read the write in the wall. The awful side of all of this? our data was transferred to another "random" company that doesn't even offer the option to cancel autorenewal. Coming from a security company is a deal breaker and I have no trust left. 

[dali_waverider]

I have computers inside the US, outside the US, and a laptop that is usually outside the US.  What happens to me?  I do NOT want to be automatically updated to UltraAV.  How can I avoid that?  Is there some way to turn off this update?

BTW, I blame the US Govt. more that Kaspersky for this fiasco, although clearly, Kaspersky could have handled this better.

[roscolo]

Each to his own, but I simply uninstalled UltraAV. Kaspersky is still installed. It didn't uninstall itself. So now I simply connect each computer I manage to a VPN to a less restrictive nation, and Kaspersky updates and works just as great as it ever has. Easy peasy, problem solved. Looking forward to using Kaspersky for many years to come.

[harlan4096]

2 hours ago, dali_waverider said:

I have computers inside the US, outside the US, and a laptop that is usually outside the US.  What happens to me?  I do NOT want to be automatically updated to UltraAV.  How can I avoid that?  Is there some way to turn off this update?

BTW, I blame the US Govt. more that Kaspersky for this fiasco, although clearly, Kaspersky could have handled this better.

I would just uninstall K. from those systems with US K. license, this way the automatic migration to UltraAV will not take part.

[dali_waverider]

14 minutes ago, roscolo said:

Each to his own, but I simply uninstalled UltraAV. Kaspersky is still installed. It didn't uninstall itself. So now I simply connect each computer I manage to a VPN to a less restrictive nation, and Kaspersky updates and works just as great as it ever has. Easy peasy, problem solved. Looking forward to using Kaspersky for many years to come.

Heh.  So Kaspersky VPN disappeared from my machine, and I apparently cannot redownload it, even though it is not yet September 29.  So I have to get another VPN to update my Kaspsrky VPN and Total Security!  Catch-22.  You can't make this stuff up.

Thanks US Gov.  For nothing.  From their site...

"Kaspersky is a multinational company with offices in 31 countries, servicing users in over 200 countries and territories. Kaspersky provides cybersecurity and anti-virus products and services to over 400 million users and 270,000 corporate clients globally."

What could possibly go wrong if you ban a product widely used?  I guess TikTok comes next.  Can we ban the NSA from gathering our information too?

[roscolo]

4 minutes ago, dali_waverider said:

Heh.  So Kaspersky VPN disappeared from my machine, and I apparently cannot redownload it, even though it is not yet September 29.  So I have to get another VPN to update my Kaspsrky VPN and Total Security!  Catch-22.  You can't make this stuff up.

Thanks US Gov.  For nothing.  From their site...

"Kaspersky is a multinational company with offices in 31 countries, servicing users in over 200 countries and territories. Kaspersky provides cybersecurity and anti-virus products and services to over 400 million users and 270,000 corporate clients globally."

What could possibly go wrong if you ban a product widely used?  I guess TikTok comes next.  Can we ban the NSA from gathering our information too?

I never used Kaspersky VPN, I use a different product, but if you're set on using Kaspersky VPN, just use a free VPN, or a free trial of another VPN, to update your Kaspersky and do the download / install of Kaspersky VPN. I don't see why that wouldn't work. Or a good reliable VPN from another provider is cheap anyway.

[dali_waverider]

3 minutes ago, roscolo said:

I never used Kaspersky VPN, I use a different product, but if you're set on using Kaspersky VPN, just use a free VPN, or a free trial of another VPN, to update your Kaspersky and do the download / install of Kaspersky VPN. I don't see why that wouldn't work. Or a good reliable VPN from another provider is cheap anyway.

Thanks!  As my Kaspersky VPN has only 2 months remaining, I guess I will move to NordVPN now.  Not so easy for my Kaspersky Total Security, which has 34 months remaining.   What a burn.