WatchGuard and Kaspersky

Alex2

Hi there !

Given the recent events in Ukraine and the cyber-attacks from Russia, a question arises about eventual links between WatchGuard and Kaspersky. Indeed, Kaspersky Labs mentions WatchGuard as a partner [1]. It states that WatchGuard uses Kaspersky Anti-Virus SDK.

So, in my organization, we have some concerns about the fact that some WG products may use components whose supply is potentially under Russian control, therefore causing a high risk of supply chain attack.

The questions are then :

• How can we get sure no Kaspersky component is still in use on WG products ?
• Can WG guarantee this and provide evidences or ways to check for this ?

If we cannot get sufficient guarantee that it does not use any library originating from Kaspersky, we may consider withdraw all our WatchGuard products...

References
[1] https://www.kaspersky.com/partners/technology

Bruce_Briggs

Here is the current list of WG's OEM partners.
https://www.watchguard.com/wgrd-partners/oem-partners

Kaspersky is not listed there.
Bitdefender is the current AV signature provider.

I expect someone from WG to confirm.

Bruce_Briggs

Here is info on Kaspersky as a technology partner:
https://www.watchguard.com/wgrd-partners/technology-partners?combine=kaspersky&field_watchguard_product_tid=All

"This document describes the steps to deploy a TDR Host Sensor on a host that runs Kaspersky software."

TDR and Kaspersky
https://www.watchguard.com/help/docs/help-center/en-US/Content/Integration-Guides/TDR/kaspersky_tdr.html?cshid=17125

Alex2

Thank you for your reply !

Yes, I already saw the second link you mentioned. And in my opinion, we only talk about a possible integration between both products, not a WatchGuard product depending on a Kaspersky library.

But WatchGuard shall understand that, in the current context, many intelligence services may misinterpret such a partnership and simply blacklist WG products simply because it seems to present a risk of supply chain attack.

How does WatchGuard intent to address this issue ?

james.carson

Kaspersky was used on the XCS mail appliance as the main AntiVirus vendor. That product has since gone end of life.

Neither of the AntiVirus options (Gateway AV or Intelligent AV) use Kaspersky on the firewalls themselves. The Mobile Security/Fireclient service did use technology from Kaspersky, but has since been discontinued and is no longer something you can purchase.

james.carson

Hi @Alex2
I'm going to lock this thread to keep everything in one of them -- Please see the comment from the project manager on your other thread.

https://community.watchguard.com/watchguard-community/discussion/2451/watchguard-and-kaspersky#latest