Security firm Kaspersky issued a statement on Monday saying that comments claiming that Apple had asked the firm for security help were taken out of context. It would appear, however, that Kaspersky overstated the situation, and that Nikolay Grebennikov, the company’s Chief Technology Officer, misspoke, and that the clarification is really a correction.
The original line that got all the attention was, “Mac OS is really vulnerable, and Apple recently invited us to improve its security,” as reported by Computing News.
As stated, it was a big deal—Apple has a long and proud track record of being just as secretive about security as it is about everything else. The idea that Apple was turning to a third party security firm to improve security in its operating systems would have represented a sea change in strategy.
It turns out that this wasn’t really the case. In a long statement given to Engadget, Kaspersky Labs said that Apple, “did not invite or solicit Kaspersky Lab’s assistance in analyzing the Mac OS X [sic] platform.”
The company insisted, however that, “Apple is open to collaborating with us regarding new Mac OS X vulnerabilities and malware that we identify during our analysis.”
To that end, Computer News updated its report with this note:
Grebennikov originally stated that Apple had invited Kaspersky Lab to work with the company on improving its security, but has since issued a clarification. The company has now said that its analysis of OS X was “conducted independently” but that “Apple is open to collaborating with [Kaspersky] regarding new OS X vulnerabilities.”
In other words, Kaspersky’s analysis of OS X is independent, but the company believes that Apple might work with it depending on what it finds. Whether or not it does so remains to be seen.
The full statement from Kaspersky:
On Monday, April 14, computing.co.uk published an article titled “Apple OS ‘really vulnerable’ claims Kaspersky Lab CTO” that includes an inaccurate quote regarding Apple and Kaspersky Lab. The article reports that Kaspersky Lab had “begun the process of analyzing the Mac OS platform at Apple’s request” to identify vulnerabilities. This statement was taken out of context by the magazine – Apple did not invite or solicit Kaspersky Lab’s assistance in analyzing the Mac OS X platform. Kaspersky Lab has contacted computing.co.uk to correct its article.
Please refer to the statement below from Nikolay Grebennikov, Chief Technology Officer, Kaspersky Lab, which clarifies this misrepresentation:
“As Mac OS X market share continues to increase, we expect cyber-criminals to continue to develop new types of malware and attack methods. In order to meet these new threats, Kaspersky Lab has been conducting an in-depth analysis of Mac OS X vulnerabilities and new forms of malware.
This security analysis of Mac OS X was conducted independently of Apple; however, Apple is open to collaborating with us regarding new Mac OS X vulnerabilities and malware that we identify during our analysis. Kaspersky Lab is committed to providing the highest level of security for all of our customers, including Mac OS X, and we will continue to enhance our technologies in order to meet the ever-changing threat landscape.”
[Via The Loop]
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