Last Updated on 27/03/2022 by Nidhi Khandelwal
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) of the United States added Kaspersky Lab, a Russian cybersecurity firm, to the “Covered List” of organizations that pose a “unacceptable risk to the country’s national security” on Friday.
This is the first time a Russian company has been included to the list, which has previously been dominated by Chinese telecoms companies. China Telecom (Americas) Corp and China Mobile International USA were also put to the list alongside Kaspersky.
The block list covers any information security products, solutions, or services provided by the company or any of its predecessors, successors, parents, subsidiaries, or affiliates, whether directly or indirectly.
The FCC said the decision was made in response to a BOD issued by the Department of Homeland Security on September 11, 2017, prohibiting federal agencies from using Kaspersky-branded goods in their computer systems.
In reaction, the security services provider expressed disappointment with the FCC’s decision, claiming that it was done “on political grounds” without any technical evaluation of its products.
“Kaspersky believes the US government’s 2017 ban on federal entities and federal contractors using Kaspersky products and services was illegal, based on baseless allegations, and without any public evidence of wrongdoing.”
In response to sanctions imposed on Russia and Belarus, HackerOne said that Kaspersky’s access to the bug bounty programme will be suspended forever. “This unilateral action is unacceptable behavior,” the business stated.
The FCC’s decision coincides with a warning issued this month by Germany’s Federal Office of Information Security (BSI) against adopting the company’s security solutions in the country due to “doubts about the manufacturer’s reliability.”
