US bans sale of Kaspersky software due to alleged Kremlin links

The Joe Biden administration in the United States (US) on Thursday (June 20)announced plans to bar the sale of antivirus software made by Russia'sKasperskyLab in the country due to the company's alleged links to the Kremlin.

Addressing a press conference, USCommerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said that Russia showed it had the capacity and intent to exploit Russian companies likeKasperskyto collect and weaponise the personal information of Americans. "...and that is why we are compelled to take the action that we are taking today," Commerce Secretary Raimondo added.

Citing a source, a report by the news agency Reuters early Friday said that Kaspersky's antivirus software's privilegedaccess to a computer's systems could allow it to steal sensitive information from American computers or install malware and withhold critical updates, enhancing the threat.

The new restrictions

Raimondo told reporters that the new restrictions (on inbound sales) would becoupled with another move to add three units of the company to a trade restriction list. The restrictions, which would also bardownloads of software updates, resales, and licensing of the product will be imposed from September 29.

New USbusiness forKasperskywould be blocked 30 days after the restrictions are announced.Sales of white-labelled products — that integrateKasperskyinto software sold under a different brand name — will also be barred, the aforementioned source told Reuters.

The Commerce Department would notify companies before taking enforcement action against them, the source added.

'Our activities don't threaten US nat'l security'

Speaking to Reuters,Kaspersky said it believed that Washington's decisionwas based on "the present geopolitical climate and theoretical concerns, rather than on a comprehensive evaluation of the integrity ofKaspersky's products and services."

Kasperskyadded that its activities did not threaten American national security and that it would pursue legal options to preserve its operations.

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Kaspersky's Russian business is already subject to sweeping USexport restrictions over Moscow's war in Ukraine. But now, its UK-based unit will be effectively barred from receiving goods from American suppliers.

The company has long been in regulators' crosshairs. In2017, the Trump administration bannedits flagship antivirus product from federal networks, alleging ties to Russian intelligence and noting Russian law lets intelligence agencies compel assistance fromKasperskyand intercept communications using Russian networks.

During that year, media reports allegedKasperskyLab was involved in taking hacking tools from a National Security Agency employee that ended up in the hands of the Russian government.

The company saidit had stumbled upon the code but said no third parties saw it.

(With inputs from agencies)