US bans Kaspersky antivirus software sales over Russia ties

The United States is banning sales of Kaspersky antivirus products amid connections to the Russian government, effective by next month.

The software company will also be prohibited from providing their services to current customers by September. According to this article, the company’s ties with Russia made their services a security risk with the potential to install malware.

With the nature of their product, the company could also collect privileged information or withhold software updates on American computers. This was explained by US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo at a recent briefing announcing the ban.

“You have done nothing wrong, and you are not subject to any criminal or civil penalties,” she said to Kaspersky customers.

“However, I would encourage you, in as strong as possible terms, to immediately stop using that software and switch to an alternative in order to protect yourself and your data and your family.”, she added.

The Russian company has been a subject of many cybersecurity questions over the years.

The Federal Communications Commission put Kaspersky on its list of companies posing unacceptable security risks in 2022. Kaspersky products were also banned from use in US federal agencies ub 2017. Further, the business drew scrutiny from the UK’s cybersecurity leadership.

Presidential orders as such to block or limit access to tech from foreign countries dates back to the Trump administration. In 2020, the former president made efforts to ban TikTok and WeChat on the grounds of a security risk.

While the action was overturned in 2021, it sparked a review of the apps culminating in a legislation Biden signed last April. This saw that TikTok needed to find a new company owner to continue operations in the United States.