Biden bans massive antivirus software company due to Russian hacker concerns

Whether you know it or not, odds are good that you have at some point in your life worked with Kaspersky Lab software. Founded in the late 1990s, the Moscow tech company has spent decades cementing its reputation as a global powerhouse in antiviral and cybersecurity products. It claims on its website to serve some 400 million users and 250,000 corporate clients, all in the name of "building a safer world" in which "technology improves all of our lives."

Despite its position in the uppermost echelons of elite cybersecurity businesses, Kaspersky has long been dogged by allegations of Russian government influence, leading in part to a 2017 U.S. government ban on using the company's software on federal computers. Those tensions reached a crescendo last week, however, when Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo announced plans to "prohibit Kaspersky Lab and all of its affiliates, subsidiaries and parent company from providing cyber security and antivirus software anywhere in the United States" in a call with reporters. While Kaspersky's alleged susceptibility to Russian influence has "certainly been on the government's radar for a number of years," the "malign activity from Russia in particular over the past couple of years" led the government to "more broadly address this threat," said Commerce Department's Office of Information and Communications Technology and Services head Liz Cannon to NPR last week.

'Undue and unacceptable risks'

Kaspersky "poses undue and unacceptable risks to U.S. national security and to the security and safety of U.S. persons," The Commerce Department said in an investigation into the company. Broadly, there are "three particular risks" to Americans, Cannon said. Not only does its software give Kaspersky "essentially administrator access to the devices on which it operates," but it can "inject malware, or it can choose to withhold critical updates" as well. These, plus the fact that Kaspersky is "subject to the direction and control of the Russian government" were what elevated the issue to the "level of a real national security threat." Prior to the 2017 federal systems ban, Kaspersky had faced an "internal power struggle that placed allies of Russia's secret services against 'tech-savvy' staff and Western investors,'" Semafor said.

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The ban on Kaspersky software within the United States is thanks to "relatively new Commerce Department authorities built on executive orders signed by Presidents Joe Biden and Donald Trump," CNN said. Shortly after the Commerce Department announced the impending ban, the Treasury Department sanctioned a dozen people in senior leadership roles within the company, but not Kaspersky itself, nor "its parent or subsidiary companies, or its CEO." 

The one-two punch of product bans and personnel sanctions comes as the Biden administration is "trying to stamp out any risks of Russian cyberattacks stemming from Kaspersky software and keep squeezing Moscow as its war effort in Ukraine has regained momentum and the United States has run low on sanctions it can impose on Russia," Reuters said. Kaspersky has denied the allegations of Russian influence and cyber-threats, and alleged in a statement that the government's ban is instead "based on the present geopolitical climate and theoretical concerns, rather than on a comprehensive evaluation of the integrity of Kaspersky's products and services." Kaspersky has also threatened to sue the government over the ban, a case that would "set up a high-stakes legal test of Commerce's national security authorities," Wired said. 

'Cybersecurity and associated risks'

The Kaspersky ban is not set to take immediate effect. Instead, the company will be allowed to proceed with "certain operations in the United States" until the final deadline of Sept. 29, the Biden administration said. In the meantime, it can continue "providing antivirus signature updates and codebase updates" for users and clients as they "find suitable alternatives" to Kaspersky's services. 

Crucially, users who continue to rely on Kaspersky products after the ban is fully in place "will not face legal penalties," the government explained. However, anyone who continues using the company's software "assumes all the cybersecurity and associated risks of doing so."

While the government's final determination to institute the ban does not list any specific instances of Russian governmental exploitation of Kaspersky products, "we certainly believe that it is more than just a theoretical threat" said one Commerce Department official to CNN.