About 400 million users all across the globe use the Kaspersky Antivirus to protect their computer systems. Kaspersky Lab is a multinational cyber security company headquartered in Moscow, Russia. As the company celebrates its 20 year anniversary in 2017, it has received a jolt from the Trump government as it removed Kaspersky from the two lists of approved vendors that US state departments and government agencies purchase technology equipment from. The step was taken in concerns of Kaspersky Lab’s links to Russian intelligence services.
Many of the US media agencies, including Bloomberg News, had pointed at the security firm’s strong ties with the Russian intelligence agency FSB. The news of banning of Kaspersky was confirmed by the General Services Administration (GSA) who said that “GSA’s priorities are to ensure the integrity and security of US government systems and networks and evaluate products and services available on our contracts using supply chain risk management processes.”
The Russian cyber security company, however, denied all the allegation in a statement on their website that read:
“Kaspersky Lab has no ties to any government, and the company has never helped, nor will help, any government in the world with its cyberespionage efforts. Kaspersky Lab is very public about the fact that it assists law enforcement agencies around the world with fighting cyberthreats, including those in Russia, by providing cybersecurity expertise on malware and cyberattacks. When assisting in official Russian cybercrime investigations, in accordance with Russian law, we only provide technical expertise throughout the investigation to help them catch cybercriminals. Concerning raids and physically catching cybercriminals, Kaspersky Lab might ride along to examine any digital evidence found, but that is the extent of our participation, as we do not track hackers’ locations. Kaspersky Lab doesn’t provide any government agencies, nor other parties, with information on location of people and doesn’t gather ‘identifying data from customers’ computers’ because it is technically impossible.”
According to Bloomberg News, they have acquired internal company emails that provide an evidence of the working relationship between Kaspersky and the FSB. The claim, however, was disputed by Kaspersky who said that the communication was either misinterpreted or manipulated. The security company has accepted that it cooperated with law enforcement agencies and victims of cyber crimes. Their stance on the allegations remains the same as the company claims that all the accusations are false and are not backed by any solid evidence.
A little while back, Kaspersky had written a post that said:
Market driven Demagocracy.
If that is so then we shouldn’t trust American companies and their products too
This is the height of paranoia by the US Govt.