Kaspersky security software has begun automatically installing UltraAV on nearly 1 million machines in the United States and deleting itself after U.S. officials banned sales of software from the Russia-based company in June.
Kaspersky customers began raising alarm on various forums and social media sites saying they did not expect the new antivirus to be installed on their computers.
“Nearly had a heart attack when I started my pc today and found a program I didn’t download,” one Reddit user stated.
The company announced its intentions to leave the U.S. market in July. In early September, Kaspersky announced a deal with UltraAV provider Pango Group that meant the U.S.-based company would acquire nearly 1 million Kaspersky customers.
A page on the UltraAV website meant to explain the transition to offloaded Kaspersky customers stated that no action is required by users and that UltraAV will be included in existing paid subscriptions for Kaspersky software.
“By mid-September you will have access to UltraAV & UltraVPN on your Windows desktop,” the page stated. “If you are a paying Kaspersky customer, when the transition is complete UltraAV protection will be active on your device and you will be able to leverage all of the additional premium features.”
The web page also stated that Kaspersky began to notify customers about the transition to UltraAV on Sept. 5 and that emails were sent to users with a valid email address associated with their accounts.
“There were also notifications and details of the transition in-app, in your MyKaspersky account pages and on Kaspersky Labs’ webpages,” according to the UltraAV website.
A screenshot posted on Reddit on Sept. 5 shows an email about the transition that was sent to customers, which stated: “In the coming days, you will be receiving communications from UltraAV with instructions on how to activate your new account.”
Users on the Kaspersky Support forum were unsatisfied with the manner in which with the transition was communicated, with several stating they never received any emails or notifications about the change. One user who received the Sept. 5 email said it was still unclear how the change would happen until the UltraAV software “simply showed up.”
“While I understand the direction that [Kaspersky] was forced to go, a little more transparency and assurances from [Kaspersky] about who we are being forced to move to and their expertise in the area, with apparently no alternative nor potential refund opportunity,” the user wrote.
In an official statement posted by a Kaspersky employee to the forum, an explanation was provided for the selection of UltraAV as a replacement, citing “comparable features” to Kaspersky, including “industry-leading antivirus protection,” a “premium VPN,” password manager and identity theft protection.
“Kaspersky has additional partnered with UltraAV to make the transition to their product as seamless as possible, which is why on 9/19, U.S. Kaspersky antivirus customers received a software update facilitating the transition to UltraAV. This update ensured that users would not experience a gap in protection upon Kaspersky’s exit from the market,” the statement read.
What is UltraAV?
The UltraAV antivirus is a product of Pango Group, which was formerly part of the online safety company Aura prior to a split between the two companies on Sept. 3, 2024. According to the press release announcing the division of the two companies, Pango Group has a “20 year track-record” and owns multiple cybersecurity brands, including UltraAV, UltraVPN, VPN 360 and Betternet.
A comparison between UltraAV and Kaspersky on the UltraAV website showed it has most of the same features as Kaspersky with the addition of real-time authentication alerts, high-risk transaction monitoring and $1 million identity theft insurance. However, UltraAV lacked the webcam protection and online payment protection features provided by Kaspersky.
UltraVPN is also included in the transition from Kaspersky to Pango Group’s products. While UltraAV is a relatively new antivirus solution, UltraVPN has been around since at least 2020, when it was acquired from by Pango Group from AnchorFree, according to Cybernews.
Some Kaspersky users said they had difficulty uninstalling UltraAV from their computers after it was automatically installed. UltraAV provided instructions for how to uninstall the program from Windows 10 and Windows 11.
UltraAV’s FAQ stated Kaspersky customers will continue to pay the same price for UltraAV that they did for Kaspersky and on the same billing schedule. If users wish not to continue with UltraAV and want to cancel their subscriptions, the company provided instructions for disabling autorenewal on the UltraAV website.
