There is no denying that the tech sphere is dominated by the West.
In the war between Ukraine and Russia, Ukraine Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov said that he had asked the CEOs of Google, YouTube, Meta, Apple and Netflix to block or limit their Russian services in an effort to elicit discontent among Russians and to put pressure on Moscow's leaders.
The requests were made in a desperate attempt to block people from Russia from outside world, and to send a message to their leaders to tell that the war should end.
But seeing Kremlin continuing its attack, the U.S. takes another step to pressure Russia.
And this time, the way is by naming Kaspersky a threat to the U.S..
Kaspersky Lab is a famous multinational cybersecurity and antivirus provider, founded back in 1997.
While it is operated by a holding company in the United Kingdom, Kaspersky is a Russian company, with its main office located in Moscow.
Realizing that sanctions didn't stop Russian President Vladimir Putin from continuing its Ukraine invasion, the United States has added the popular Russian internet security firm, to a list of companies it deemed a national security concern.
While the U.S. has lots of companies in the list, where a majority of them are Chinese companies, this is the first time that a Russian company has been added to the list.
With Kaspersky added to the list, this means that federal subsidies are no longer allowed to purchase anything from it.
What's more, under the 2021 Secure Equipment Act, companies on the Covered List are also banned from having a presence in U.S. telecommunications networks.
Companies listed on the Covered List may no longer allowed to receive any of U.S.' Federal Communications Commission (FCC) $8 billion annual Universal Service Fund (USF).
In the FCC ruling, this applies to "information security products, solutions, and services supplied, directly or indirectly" by the company or "any of its predecessors, successors, parents, subsidiaries, or affiliates."
In other words, the decision essentially puts Kaspersky in the same class as Chinese telecommunications hardware makers, like Huawei.
According to Jessica Rosenworcel, the FCC’s chairwoman, the move is part of the agency’s efforts to strengthen the U.S.' communications networks against potential threats.
This is because the FCC claimed that Kaspersky-branded products pose an "unacceptable risk to the national security of the United States."
Since Russia invaded Ukraine, the FCC has put an increased focus on Russian telecommunications.
And on March 16th, the agency said that it had completed a review of Russian interests in U.S. communications networks, and had shared the findings with national security officials.
Then, on March 25th, the FCC updated its list to add Kaspersky Labs, based on conclusions from the Department of Homeland Security, and the Committee for the Assessment of Foreign Participation in the United States Telecommunications Services Sector.
Soon after Kaspersky realizes that its name was added to the list, the company said in a statement that it “is disappointed with the decision by the FCC to prohibit certain telecommunications-related federal subsidies from being used to purchase Kaspersky products and services”.
"Kaspersky will continue to assure its partners and customers on the quality and integrity of its products, and remains ready to cooperate with the US government agencies to address the FCC’s and any other regulatory agency’s concerns,” it added.
Kaspersky also issued a statement saying that the 2017 DHS ruling was “unconstitutional, based on unsubstantiated allegations, and lacked any public evidence of wrongdoing by the company.”
The company also said that there has been "no public evidence" to justify FCC's decision to ban its products in the U.S..
According Kaspersky, FCC's decision is more like "a response to the geopolitical climate rather than a comprehensive evaluation of the integrity of Kaspersky’s products and services," the company said.
Read: Ukraine Asks Underground Hackers For Help In Its War Against Russia
Kaspersky's co-founder Eugene Kaspersky has repeatedly said that the company has independence from Kremlin.
"No evidence of Kaspersky use or abuse for malicious purpose has ever been discovered and proven in the company’s twenty-five years’ history notwithstanding countless attempts to do so," he wrote in a March 16 blog post.
This isn't the first time Kaspersky faced such ban.
In 2017, the U.S. government banned the use of Kaspersky software in federal computer networks, citing risks because of the company's ties to the Russian government and espionage attempts.
