Sanctions are imposed by the United States against the Russian security products publisher Kaspersky, the company being blacklisted alongside many Chinese companies such as Huawei.
The US telecommunications regulator, the FCC (Federal Communications Commission), has placed Kaspersky on the list of security threats to the United States, alongside Chinese firms such as Huawei and ZTE. According to the commissioners, this publisher of computer security tools would pose a “unacceptable risk” on US national security. Kaspersky will now see its activity be meticulously framed and limited, and will not be eligible for public subsidies – among other sanctions, the firm will not be able to claim part of the $ 8 billion annual universal service fund from the FCC.
First Russian company placed on the Entity List
The relations of the founder Eugene Kaspersky with the Russian intelligence services obviously weighed in this decision, while he is already personally banned from US government networks. “Kaspersky Lab’s inclusion on the Entity List will help secure our networks against threats posed by Russian-backed entities seeking to engage in espionage and harm US interests”says Brendan Carr, commissioner of the FCC.
The communication unit of the antivirus software publisher responded: “Kaspersky is disappointed with the Federal Communications Commission’s decision to prohibit the use of certain federal telecommunications-related grants to purchase Kaspersky products and services. This decision is not based on any technical evaluation of Kaspersky products — which the company constantly defends — but rather is made for political reasons.”
Kaspersky Labs is the first Russian company to join this list of entities believed to threaten the security of the United States. Recently, the German government invited companies to no longer use software solutions published by Kaspersky, indicating that the latter could be forced to participate in the Russian intelligence effort. In France, Anssi also encourages finding alternatives to Russian software.