[German]A heavy blow to antivirus provider Kaspersky. The US government has banned its software in the USA and the product may no longer be sold. And updates may soon no longer be supplied either. In addition, twelve senior Kaspersky employees have been sanctioned.
Sales ban from July 2024 in the USA
As of July 20, 2024, Kaspersky products may no longer be sold in the USA or to US citizens. This is according to a statement from the BIS (Bureau of Industry and Security). The US Department of Commerce justifies this decision with the interests of protecting the country.
Kaspersky's products and services pose an unacceptable risk to the national security of the United States and the safety of U.S. persons, as well as an unreasonable risk of undermining or sabotaging the integrity and operation of information and communications technology and services (ICTS) in the United States, the notice states. In particular, there is a significant risk of compromising the integrity and operation of ICTS (information and communications system security) and the ICTS supply chain in the United States.
Kaspersky Lab, Inc. and its affiliates, subsidiaries, and parent companies (Kaspersky) are prohibited from engaging in transactions involving the provision of certain cybersecurity and antivirus products and services to U.S. persons. Pursuant to this Final Order, the resale of Kaspersky cybersecurity or antivirus software, the integration of Kaspersky cybersecurity or antivirus software into other products and services, or the licensing of Kaspersky cybersecurity or antivirus software for the purpose of resale or integration into other products or services in the United States or by U.S. persons is prohibited.
Update stop from September 2024
Effective September 29, 2024, Kaspersky and its successors or assigns are prohibited from providing antivirus signature updates and codebase updates in connection with the ICTS transactions identified above. It is also prohibited to operate the Kaspersky Security Network (KSN) in the United States or on the information technology system of a U.S. person.
As of that date, the resale of Kaspersky cybersecurity or antivirus software, the integration of Kaspersky cybersecurity or antivirus software with other products and services, and the licensing of Kaspersky cybersecurity or antivirus software for the purpose of resale or integration with other products or services is also prohibited.
Sanctions against Kaspersky management
The US Department of Treasuries has also issued a press release announcing sanctions against Kaspersky management. These are directed against twelve people in senior positions at AO Kaspersky Lab (Kaspersky Lab) to protect Internet users from malicious cyber threats.
The US Department of Commerce alleges that AO Kaspersky Lab and OOO Kaspersky Group (Russia) and Kaspersky Labs Limited (United Kingdom) were added to the sanctions list because of their cooperation with Russian military and intelligence agencies in support of the Russian government's cyber espionage objectives. These activities are contrary to the national security and foreign policy interests of the USA.
These measures are based on information that identifies security risks posed by the use of Kaspersky Lab products in US government information systems. Kaspersky Lab's antivirus products and solutions, according to the memo, provide broad access to files and elevated privileges on the computers on which the software is installed, which can be exploited by malicious cyber actors to compromise these information systems.
Kaspersky has been banned from USG networks (UniFi Gateway) since 2017. In 2019, Trump signed an executive order allowing Commerce to ban all US transactions involving risky IT products and services from abroad. Kaspersky denies the allegations and intends to take legal action. For the US government, however, the decision is final. The whole thing could become a legal test case if Kaspersky takes legal action.
As usual, the US government provides no proof of Kaspersky's violation of the integrity of the systems. It doesn't need to. Uncle Sam does as he pleases on a global level.