Kaspersky Premium 2025: Technically Outstanding, Politically Complicated

Let's Address the Elephant First

In 2022 and 2023, the US government's CISA and the UK's NCSC both issued advisories recommending against using Kaspersky products in sensitive environments, citing concerns about the company's ties to the Russian state and the potential for Russian intelligence to compel cooperation. In 2024, the US FCC added Kaspersky to its Covered List and the US Commerce Department banned new Kaspersky sales in the United States outright.

Kaspersky denies wrongdoing, has moved some infrastructure to Switzerland, and continues to operate globally. No confirmed case of Kaspersky software being weaponised against regular consumers has been publicly documented. That's the current factual picture.

My position: if you work in government, critical infrastructure, law, journalism, or any field where your data has national security implications, use something else — Bitdefender, ESET, or Microsoft Defender depending on your needs. For a regular home user primarily concerned about ransomware, phishing, and malware? It's a judgment call, and I'll give you the full technical picture to make it.

What You Get with Kaspersky Premium

Premium, the top consumer tier, covers unlimited devices. You get the core antivirus engine, VPN with 300MB/day free (or unlimited if you pay more, which is also bundled), password manager, parental controls, identity protection features, and a PC health checker. Coverage spans Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS.

The pricing is competitive. Often the most competitive in the category for what's included. That has historically attracted users who do the research and decide the trust question doesn't apply to them.

Detection: Genuinely Excellent

Over five months of testing using the same methodology I apply to all products reviewed here, Kaspersky caught 99.1% of samples. That's comparable to Bitdefender and better than Norton in my testing environment. The heuristic engine — which detects threats based on behaviour rather than known signatures — is one of the strongest in any consumer product. Independent lab AV-Comparatives has placed Kaspersky in its top tier consistently across recent test cycles.

False positives in my testing: two over five months. Both were flagged as potentially unwanted programs rather than outright threats, and both were borderline legitimate tools that others have flagged similarly. Nothing egregious.

Performance: Light and Fast

Boot time overhead was similar to Bitdefender — around 9 seconds on my test machine. During normal use, the background CPU footprint was minimal. Active scans are thorough but well-scheduled; the default settings don't hammer your machine at inopportune moments. PCMark scores dropped by about 3-5% with Kaspersky active, which is in the same bracket as Bitdefender and considerably better than Norton.

Interface and Features

The interface is well-organised and doesn't feel cluttered. Feature access is logical. The VPN client is one of the better-integrated I've seen in a security suite. The password manager is functional. Parental controls on Android are stronger than equivalent features from Bitdefender or Norton in my testing — if that's a priority for you, it's worth noting.

Our Bottom Line

If the trust question doesn't apply to your situation and you've read the above with open eyes, Kaspersky Premium is technically one of the best products in this category. The detection is excellent, the performance is light, and the pricing is fair. We score it 7.4 rather than higher because the trust issue is a meaningful factor that affects the product's overall suitability — especially as its long-term availability in Western markets is uncertain.