US Government Bans Russian Cybersecurity Service Kaspersky

The U.S. Department of Commerce has announced that its Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) has prohibited the sale in the U.S. of various cybersecurity products and services offered by Russia-based Kaspersky Lab, Inc., citing national security concerns.

This ban on U.S. sales follows the Department of Homeland Security's 2017 decision to prohibit Federal government agencies from using Kaspersky-branded products in their information systems, which was subsequently codified into Federal law by Congress.

“Russia has shown time and again they have the capability and intent to exploit Russian companies, like Kaspersky Lab, to collect and weaponize sensitive U.S. information, and we will continue to use every tool at our disposal to safeguard U.S. national security and the American people. Today’s action, our first use of the Commerce Department’s ICTS authorities, demonstrates Commerce’s role in support of our national defense and shows our adversaries we will not hesitate to act when they use their technology poses a risk to the United States and its citizens,”  Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said.

In addition to this action, BIS added three entities—AO Kaspersky Lab and OOO Kaspersky Group (Russia), and Kaspersky Labs Limited (United Kingdom)—to the Entity List for their cooperation with Russian military and intelligence authorities in support of the Russian Government’s cyber intelligence objectives.

This is a landmark decision and marks the inaugural Final Determination issued by the Office of Information and Communications Technology and Services (OICTS) within BIS.

OICTS's mandate includes assessing whether specific information and communications technology or services transactions in the U.S. present an undue or unacceptable national security threat.

As a result of this determination, Kaspersky will generally be prohibited from selling its software in the United States and from providing updates to software already in use, among other activities.

Kaspersky also responded to the ban. In a statement, it said, “Kaspersky does not engage in activities which threaten U.S. national security and, in fact, has made significant contributions with its reporting and protection from a variety of threat actors that targeted U.S. interests and allies. The company intends to pursue all legally available options to preserve its current operations and relationships.”