Kaspersky Users in the US Surprised by Automatic Installation of UltraAV Antivirus and UltraVPN

Kaspersky users in the US were in for a surprise when they woke up to find UltraAV antivirus and UltraVPN automatically installed on their systems without warning. This abrupt change came as a result of the US ban on Kaspersky antivirus software due to alleged ties with the Russian government.

Many users expressed their shock and confusion on social media platforms like Reddit, with one user stating, “Woke up to Kaspersky completely gone from my system with Ultra AV and Ultra VPN freshly installed (not by me, just automatically while I slept). No sign of Kaspersky anywhere on my system, and Ultra AV’s settings are non-existent.”

The sudden switch to UltraAV, a product from Pango Group, a Boston-based company, left many users scrambling to understand the change. Pango Group, owned by Aura, a technology company specializing in online threat protection, acquired roughly 1 million US customers from Kaspersky.

Despite the unexpected transition, Kaspersky assured its customers that they would not experience a gap in protection. The company stated that they had partnered with UltraAV to make the transition as seamless as possible, offering comparable features such as antivirus, premium VPN, password manager, identity theft protection, and $1 million in insurance coverage.

While some cybersecurity professionals raised concerns about the forced update, Kaspersky emphasized that they had worked closely with UltraAV to maintain the security and privacy standards expected by their users. The company’s official statement highlighted the collaboration between the two companies to ensure a smooth transition for customers.