In a surprise move, Kaspersky customers in the United States have discovered that their antivirus software has been automatically replaced with a new antivirus solution called UltraAV.
This transition comes after the U.S. Department of Commerce banned Kaspersky from selling or updating certain antivirus products in the United States due to alleged national security risks.
“Kaspersky, in partnership with UltraAV, has worked to ensure that customers maintain the high standards of security and privacy they have come to expect. UltraAV offers comparable features, including industry-leading antivirus protection, premium VPN, password manager, and identity theft protection,” reads the official notice.
The transition to UltraAV was facilitated through a software update on September 19, which automatically replaced Kaspersky’s antivirus software with UltraAV on users’ computers. This update was designed to ensure that users would not experience a gap in protection upon Kaspersky’s exit from the market.
However, many users have expressed surprise and concern over the sudden change, with some reporting that they had no prior notification of the transition. “Woke up to Kasperky completely gone from my system with Ultra AV and Ultra VPN freshly installed (not by me, just automatically while I slept),” a user on Reddit wrote.
“Listen, Kaspersky employees, I need to remove this Ultra AV thing, no one notified me and its addresses look very suspicious” another wants to remove Ultra AV from their systems.
Kaspersky has confirmed the transition to UltraAV, stating that it has partnered with UltraAV to make the transition as seamless as possible. The company has also assured users that UltraAV will provide reliable antivirus protection under their existing subscriptions.
Despite these assurances, some users have raised concerns about the lack of transparency and established reputation of UltraAV. “UltraAV? Never heard of it,” one user wrote online. “I’m hesitant to use a product with no reviews or industry experience. Why would I trust it with my data?”.
UltraAV, owned by Pango Group, has been acquiring VPN providers and has a portfolio of consumer cybersecurity solutions. However, there is limited information available about UltraAV’s performance and reliability in independent antivirus reviews and comparison sites.
The transition to UltraAV affects approximately 1 million Kaspersky users in the United States, who will now receive antivirus protection from UltraAV under their existing subscriptions.
Kaspersky has assured users that they will not experience a gap in protection and will continue to receive reliable antivirus protection from UltraAV.