The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has released a notice to confirm it has prohibited the use of any equipment that integrates Kaspersky cybersecurity or antivirus software. This comes months after the US banned the sale of Kaspersky products, which pushed the company to lay off all US workers and close all US based operations.
The US telecom regulator’s statement confirmed that Kaspersky has been added to the ‘Covered List’ of equipment and services which are determined to ‘pose an unacceptable risk to the national security of the United States or the security and safety of United States persons’.
No devices with Kaspersky software will obtain equipment authorization from the FCC and any telecoms operators that use it will be required to remove it from their networks and replace it with another security supplier.
A long time coming
Kaspersky has repeatedly denied that it is influenced in any way by the Russian government, and even proposed a third-party review of its code, but this was rejected by US officials. In a statement addressing the ban, CEO Eugene Kaspersky confirmed the company’s willingness to be transparent,
“These are in fact the mitigation measures we’ve submitted in a proposal for discussion to the US Department of Commerce – once again confirming our openness to dialogue and determination to provide the ultimate level of security assurances. However, our proposal was simply ignored.”
The cyber security firm faced its first US restrictions back in 2017 when the Department of Homeland Security restricted the use of Kaspersky software in all government departments and agencies. Shortly after, it implemented a ban from all US military systems, citing a fear of Kremlin influence.
Via The Register
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