The US Commerce Department has barred the sale of cybersecurity products made by Russia-based Kaspersky Labs in the United States on grounds that the firm’s ties to the Kremlin pose national security risks to American customers using its services. The move has been mulled for at least the past year, according to David DiMolfetta, cybersecurity reporter with Nextgov/FCW. It was announced by the agency’s Bureau of Industry and Security and follows a preexisting ban on Kaspersky offerings in U.S. government systems that was enacted in 2017.
That ban was declared after officials said Kaspersky software was used to steal classified NSA employee data via backdoor intercepts controlled by the Kremlin, he said. Other restriction steps followed, including a related ban on Kaspersky products for use in U.S. government contracts and a later move from the Federal Communications Commission that added the company to its national security threat list in the wake of Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. This recent move is a first-of-its-kind decision that prevents the American private sector from buying Kaspersky offerings altogether, DiMolfetta said.
Kaspersky has set off alarm bells in other Western governments, including the U.K., Lithuania, Germany and the Netherlands. DiMolfetta said this new ban was invoked through a Commerce Department authority enacted during the Trump administration that allows the agency to restrict certain IT or communications technology transactions. Two Russia-based Kaspersky entities and one company unit based in the United Kingdom are targeted by the move.
The firm is barred from entering into new agreements starting July 20. It has until Sept. 29 before it must cease rolling out new security updates to customers using its products, which include its flagship antivirus software.
Kaspersky also runs its own threat intelligence service similar to products offered by U.S. providers like Microsoft, Google and CrowdStrike. The company has previously denied allegations of ties to the Kremlin, said DiMolfetta. This news originally appeared in the Nextgov FCW email alert.
