Kaspersky joined the US FCC (Federal Communications Commission) blacklist on Friday, along with China Telecom and China Mobile.
Kaspersky is the first Russian company to be added to the list. Previously, this blacklist only included Chinese companies.
The information was revealed by Bloomberg. As a reminder, companies on the Entity List are prohibited from purchasing parts and components from US companies without Washington government approval.
National Security Threats
The FCC justifies the presence of the three new companies on this list by the risk that they would represent for the national security of the United States.
“I am satisfied that our national security agencies have accepted my assessment that China Mobile and China Telecom have met the necessary threshold to be added to our list. Their addition, along with that of Kaspersky Labs, will help secure our networks against threats posed by Chinese and Russian state-backed entities that seek to spy and harm America’s interests,” Brandan said. Carr, commissioner of the FCC.
A “political” decision according to Kaspersky
Kaspersky responded to this announcement in a press release, accusing the American agency of taking this decision on the basis of political motives.
“This decision is not based on a technical evaluation of Kaspersky products – which the company constantly defends – but on political grounds,” says the cybersecurity company. “Kaspersky will continue to reassure its partners and customers of the quality and integrity of its products, and remains ready to cooperate with US government agencies to address the concerns of the FCC and any other regulatory agency. »
This statement recalls another: a few days ago, Kaspersky also accused the German BSI (German Federal Office for Information Security) of having warned against the use of its products and services for political reasons. .
Companies already monitored
Long before being blacklisted in the United States, the use of Kaspersky products and services had already been banned in the country’s public administrations since 2017.
The addition of China Telecom and China Mobile to this blacklist is not a surprise either: the two telecom operators had already been expelled from the New York Stock Exchange by the US Treasury Department at the beginning of last year. And last October, the FCC also ordered the withdrawal of China Telecom’s authorization to operate in the United States.
Source: ZDNet.com