The CyberPrivacy Brief:
- To reduce the risk of espionage, enterprises should consider geopolitics when selecting antivirus software.
- Hostile governments could abuse the data antivirus companies may collect to gain strategic intelligence on targets, argues Michael Sulmeyer, the Director of the Belfer Center’s Cyber Security Project at Harvard University.
In an October interview with The Cipher Brief, Mr. Sulmeyer, who served as director for plans and operations for cyber policy in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, advised businesses when selecting anti-virus software to consider it comes from, and what disclosure policies – formal and informal – its designers are subject to.
A crucial concern, he says, is that because installed antivirus software has vast access to so many computers globally, nation-states could eavesdrop on their information if the company scanning computers for a virus is subject to disclosure policies.
