Kaspersky Banned in U.S. Federal Agencies
The U.S. government has finally made a concrete decision regarding Kaspersky Lab, banning software from the Russia-based cyber security firm in federal agencies.
After months of calling the company out for its alleged connections to the Russian government, Department of Homeland Security acting secretary Elaine Duke issued a binding operational directive ordering federal civilian agencies to identify and remove Kaspersky Lab software from their network.
Agencies have 90 days to comply unless given instruction to do otherwise, as the Washington Post first reported.
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"This action is based on the information security risks presented by the use of Kaspersky products on federal information systems," the statement from the DHS said.
"The Department is concerned about the ties between certain Kaspersky officials and Russian intelligence and other government agencies, and requirements under Russian law that allow Russian intelligence agencies to request or compel assistance from Kaspersky," the announcement expanded on their reason to ban federal civilian agencies from using Kaspersky software.
The order covers civilian government agencies, but not military ones, as Ars Technica notes. The Defense Department does not use Kaspersky products anyway, as officials explained.
Kaspersky, for their part, released their own statement noting their disappointment towards this recent directive by the DHS. The software firm has already offered to open up its source code for inspection by U.S. government officials, and is still willing to offer information "to confirm that these allegations are completely unfounded."
Kaspersky Lab also added that the Russian policies and laws cited on the new DHS directive only apply to telecom and Internet service providers, and not to software makers like them.
Kaspersky products, meanwhile, has been removed from Best Buy retail shelves just recently. This new directive could lead to new pressure on local governments and other private companies to ditch Kaspersky, as well, particularly with the FBI allegedly briefing them about the threat posed by their software products.
