The Biden administration has announced plans to ban the sale of Kaspersky Lab’s antivirus software in the United States due to national security concerns. Reuters Reports.
The sources said Reuters Kaspersky’s close ties to the Russian government pose a national security risk, potentially allowing the company — and the Russian government — to steal sensitive information from American computers, install malware on them, or block updates from them.
The Biden administration is expected to announce the ban on Thursday. Kaspersky will be banned from doing new business in the US 30 days after the restrictions are published. The ban will also prohibit the downloading, reselling, and licensing of antivirus software, according to the report Reuters. Businesses already using Kaspersky’s software will have 100 days after the announcement – until September 29 – to find alternatives. Biden’s authority to ban the program derives from powers created under the Trump administration. (It is unclear what the authorities are.)
The ban comes as a culmination of a two-year investigation into Kaspersky conducted by the Ministry of Commerce I started for the first time Investigation into the company in 2022. After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the federal government warned some companies that the Russian government might tamper with Kaspersky’s software, prompting the Commerce Department to step up the investigation. Reuters mentioned on time. Despite national security concerns, Kaspersky’s antivirus software has been well reviewed. PCMag Named The program is highly effective but later stopped recommending it in 2022 “based on increasing censure and criticism of Kaspersky by US government agencies, foreign agencies, and informed third parties.”
Concerns about Kaspersky predated the Russian invasion. In 2017, the Department of Homeland Security Restricted federal agencies from using the software, citing the fact that Russian law allows intelligence agencies to oblige companies to provide assistance, including Kaspersky, and to intercept certain communications.