How to safely remove Kaspersky and find an alternative

Among the effects of the war in Ukraine there is also the “Kaspersky case”, well-known antivirus made by a Russian company that has been a leader in the cyber security sector for years. The Undersecretary to the Prime Minister with responsibility for National Security, Franco Gabrielli, asked for the disposal of Kaspersky from the servers of the Public Administration due to alleged (but not ascertained) security risks. To understand how to remove Kaspersky from your system, we point out some advice provided byexpert Andrea Marchiin cybersecurity at Rödl & Partners.

How to remove Kaspersky from your device

Regarding the Kaspersky case, Andrea Marchi underlines: “If you decide to switch to another anti-malware protection solution other than Kaspersky, it is important to make sure that there is still no software on the device when installing the new product”

The expert continues: “Uninstallation must be done using the product’s own tool, during this phase, you must be very careful to remove any traces of the previous installation. Better not to choose the so-called ‘light’ removal that is proposed a few times, as it leaves some setting files, configuration or license keys unaltered “

Only once the removing Kaspersky from your PC it will be possible to proceed with the installation of a new antivirus solution which must be “followed by the immediate update of the antivirus / antimalware definitions and by a complete and as in-depth system scan as possible”

The elements to consider for complete protection

To protect yourself against cyber threats you need to follow very fundamental elementi, underlines Marchi, which are summarized in the acronym ECS (Efficiency, Capacity and Scalability). The chosen antivirus must be efficient and be able to count on constant updates. The software must have high scanning and detection capabilities using advanced tools to detect threats. Furthermore, it must be a scalable solution capable of extending the protection to other devices not initially included in the perimeter.