The US communications regulator, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), has added Kaspersky to a list of entities that it deems to pose a countrywide security menace.
The list, 1st released in March 2021, addresses communications gear and solutions that pose an “unacceptable risk to nationwide security or to the security and safety of US individuals.”
In addition to cybersecurity vendor Kaspersky, the FCC’s most recent update additional two Chinese providers to the organizations it considers a security risk: China Telecom (Americas) Corp and China Cellular Global Usa Inc.
Commenting on the announcement, FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel stated: “Last calendar year, for the first time, the FCC revealed a listing of communications products and products and services that pose an unacceptable risk to nationwide security, and we have been working carefully with our national security associates to review and update this checklist.
“Today’s action is the newest in the FCC’s ongoing efforts, as portion of the higher entire-of-federal government approach, to strengthen America’s communications networks from nationwide security threats, including examining the overseas possession of telecommunications companies delivering support in the United States and revoking the authorization to function where by important. Our function in this area proceeds.”
In response, Kaspersky argued the selection was centered on political relatively than specialized grounds. The statement read: “Kaspersky is dissatisfied with the selection by the Federal Communications Fee (FCC) to prohibit selected telecommunications-related federal subsidies from becoming utilized to buy Kaspersky items and providers. This selection is not dependent on any specialized evaluation of Kaspersky goods – that the business repeatedly advocates for – but rather is staying designed on political grounds.
“Kaspersky maintains that the US Government’s 2017 prohibitions on federal entities and federal contractors from working with Kaspersky products and expert services were unconstitutional, dependent on unsubstantiated allegations, and lacked any public evidence of wrongdoing by the firm. As there has been no community evidence to in any other case justify these actions since 2017, and the FCC announcement especially refers to the Division of Homeland Security’s 2017 perseverance as the basis for today’s final decision, Kaspersky believes today’s expansion of these kinds of prohibition on entities that acquire FCC telecommunication-associated subsidies is similarly unsubstantiated and is a response to the geopolitical weather fairly than a in depth evaluation of the integrity of Kaspersky’s items and solutions.”
The announcement is the most current in a sequence of blows to Kaspersky since Russia started its invasion of Ukraine in late February. Before this month, Germany’s Federal Office for Information and facts Security (BSI) advised organizations against using the firms’ items over fears Kaspersky could be applied as a auto to have out offensive cyber functions by the Russian governing administration amid heightened East-West tensions. As in the scenario of the FCC, the vendor issued a strongly worded response, emphasizing it has no backlinks to the Russian authorities and arguing the final decision was politically inspired.
In addition, on March 1, the company’s CEO, Eugene Kaspersky, came beneath fire for a statement he tweeted pertaining to the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Market figures criticized his neutral tone on the matter, this sort of as describing the conflict as a “situation.”
Some parts of this article are sourced from:
www.infosecurity-magazine.com