When it comes to try to better understand the security risks that WordPress websites face, one big problem is that security companies and security journalists are often spreading inaccurate and far too often outright false information related to that. In one recent example, news outlets were baselessly claiming, among other things, that hundreds of thousands of WordPress websites had been hacked.

One of the outlets that was a frequent source of that inaccurate information has been the Threatpost. That they would provide misinformation, while being a news outlet, isn’t all that surprising consider they were not even honest about who owned them. As for years they have hidden that they were owned by the major Russian security company Kaspersky. Here is how the About page of their website currently reads:

Threatpost is a long-running, independent source of news and analysis about the cybersecurity landscape, covering breaking news and threat research, malware and vulnerability analysis, long-term trends and everything in-between.

This Woburn, Mass.-based outlet reaches a core audience of 1 million+ website visitors, including hundreds of thousands of IT and business-security professionals worldwide, every month.

Threatpost’s award-winning editorial team produces unique and high-impact content including security news, videos, podcasts, eBooks, webinars, roundtables, Q&As, polls, feature reports, insider columns and more. Threatpost has been referenced as an authoritative source on information security by leading news outlets, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, MSNBC, USA Today and National Public Radio.

Make Threatpost your first stop for security news and analysis to stay informed and keep your organization safe.

No mention of Kaspersky’s ownership is made there, but it used to be clearly displayed. Here is how the page started in August 2017:

Threatpost, The Kaspersky Lab security news service, is an independent news site which is a leading source of information about IT and business security for hundreds of thousands of professionals worldwide.

(The contradiction of claiming to be independent while being owned by a major player in the industry being covered should be obvious. It doesn’t seem like there was independence from Kaspersky.)

Also, in the footer of the website, it was labeled as:

The Kaspersky Lab Security News Service

The removal of mentions of Kaspersky occurred in October 2017, after there was reporting that they were involved a Russian government hack of a US intelligence agency employee. In response to that report, the founder and head of Kaspersky, Eugene Kaspersky, announced a “transparency initiative”:

We need to reestablish trust in relationships between companies, governments and citizens. That’s why we’re launching this Global Transparency Initiative: we want to show how we’re completely open and transparent. We’ve nothing to hide. And I believe that with these actions we’ll be able to overcome mistrust and support our commitment to protecting people in any country on our planet.

Even recently stories covering Kaspersky didn’t mention that they owned the news outlet, which is a basic journalistic practice.

The Threatpost hasn’t posted any stories since the end of August. No explanation has been given for that, but a former employee wrote on August 26 that there was a rumor that it was being shuttered:

Rumor has it Kaspersky is temporarily shuttering @threatpost in September. Don’t know for sure if it’s true or not, but Threatpost is a valuable community resource that shouldn’t be diminished or disappeared.

It seems telling that the former employee, who claimed that the “Threatpost is a valuable community resource” despite it’s lack of concern for truthfulness even about itself, now works for a security company and not for a news outlet. The longtime editor-in-chief, Tom Spring, is also now working for a security company, as a “media manager”.

Concerning for those looking for accurate security news, another longtime employee, Tara Seals, now works as a “managing editor” of Dark Reading.