The US government last month banned all Kaspersky products from being used on government-issued machines, after discovering that hackers may have used the popular anti-virus product to scan for top-secret documents on targeted computers.
Kaspersky has denied that its programs had such features, or that it assisted in any way the Russian governments or hackers with spying operations directed at the US government.
The company announced a variety of means meant to prove to the world that its products can’t be used to spy on targets.
The company said that it will ask independent parties to review the security of its antivirus software, Reuters explains.
The company said it’ll have outside parties review its software development, with reviews set to begin by the first quarter of 2018. The company did not say who these reviewers will be, but that they will have strong software security credentials, and they’ll be able to audit the software and source code and hunt for vulnerabilities.
“We’ve nothing to hide,” Chairman and CEO Eugene Kaspersky said. “With these actions, we’ll be able to overcome mistrust and support our commitment to protecting people in any country on our planet.”
Finally, the company will expand its vulnerability bounty program, with rewards going up to $100,000, a significant increase over the previous maximum award of $5,000.
It’ll be a while until Kaspersky can clear its name if it’ll ever be able to do it. In the meantime, you might be better off using a different antivirus program.
