14 DAY TRIAL // Kaspersky asked Russia and the European Union to investigate Microsoft’s Windows 10 practices that encourage (and sometimes force) users to replace third-party antivirus with Windows Defender, and now the Russian company receives the support of security firms across the world.
Kaspersky explained in a blog post published last week that many other security companies believe that Microsoft turns to dirty tricks to push users to Windows Defender, but nobody has until now been vocal.
And according to SecurityWeek, some firms have already expressed their support for Kaspersky, including Panda Labs, F-Secure, and Avira. All of them believe that Microsoft needs to play well with third-party security companies, and some admit that Redmond needs to change its antivirus policy in Windows 10.
Luis Corrons, technical director at Panda Labs, explains that several European security companies have the same concerns over Microsoft encouraging users to go for Windows Defender, and explains that Kaspersky will certainly receive the support of others in the fight against the software giant.
F-Secure CTO Mika Stahlberg goes for a more conservative approach, and says that the current practice that Microsoft is using “is not allowing the best protection for the end customer,” while Avira CEO Travis Witteveen thinks “Eugene is right to be upset.”
“We are in active dialogue with Microsoft, as not all changes, as well as upcoming changes, are considered as beneficial for the user. We are glad they are investing effort, but have warned them about abusing their position,” he said.
Microsoft not worried
Microsoft, on the other hand, doesn’t seem to be at all worried, and says that it’s always open to communication with Russian authorities and the company always wants to comply with the local laws. At the same time, the company claims that it’s not aware of an investigation started by the Russian government, explaining that it’ll look into it once it receives an official notification.
The European Commission is yet to confirm an investigation in this case, but judging from the fact that more security companies show their support for Kaspersky’s complaint, a closer look at how Microsoft pushes Windows Defender to Windows 10 users is very likely.