“Russia has demonstrated time and time again that it has the ability and intent to exploit Russian companies, such as Kaspersky Lab, to collect and weaponize sensitive information,” US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said in a statement.
These actions show America’s adversaries that the Commerce Department will not hesitate to act when “its technology poses a risk to the United States and its citizens,” he added.
While the multinational company is headquartered in Moscow, it has offices in 31 countries and serves more than 400 million users and 270,000 corporate customers in more than 200 countries, according to the Department of Commerce.
In addition to banning the sale of Kaspersky’s antivirus software, the Commerce Department also added three entities linked to the company to a list of companies considered to be of national security concern, “for their cooperation with Russian military and intelligence authorities in support to the Russian government’s cyber intelligence objectives.
The Commerce Department said it “strongly encourages” users to switch to new providers, although its decision does not prohibit them from using the software if they choose.
Kaspersky is allowed to continue certain operations in the United States, including antivirus updates, until September 29 of this year, “to minimize disruption to American consumers and businesses and give them time to find suitable alternatives,” the Department added. trade.
For its part, the company shared with Expansión its position on the matter, where they indicated that they are aware of the Department of Commerce, but the decision does not affect the company’s ability to sell and promote offers of cyber threat intelligence and/or training in USA.
They also highlighted that the determination is not related to the company’s operations in the country, but rather to the current geopolitical climate and “theoretical concerns, rather than a comprehensive evaluation of the integrity of the company’s products and services.”
Finally, they highlighted that this will benefit cybercrime, as it will restrict efforts against malware, in addition to “taking away the freedom that consumers and organizations, large and small, should have to use the protection they want, in this case forcing them to move away from the industry’s best anti-malware technology, according to independent testing.”
With information from AFP
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