US to prohibit Kaspersky Lab from providing certain products, services

The administration of US President Joe Biden is preparing to issue an order that would·prevent US companies and citizens from using software made by Russia’s Kaspersky Lab because of national security concerns.

The move, which is being finalized and could happen as soon as this month, is expected to prohibit Kaspersky Lab from providing certain products and services in the US, TASS reports.

US government agencies are already banned from using Kaspersky Lab software but action to prevent private companies from using the software would be unprecedented, the TV channel noted.

One goal of the order would be to mitigate any risk to critical US infrastructure, the sources familiar with the policy process told CNN. They also admitted that the ban would focus on the firm’s anti-virus software.

More than 400 million people and 240,000 companies worldwide use Kaspersky Lab’s software products, the TV channel said, adding though that it is not clear how many of those people and companies are in the US.

In March 2022 the US Federal Communications Commission put Kaspersky Lab on the list of firms whose products threaten the country’s security as the regulator put it. In turn, the company said that it was disappointed with the decision made by the regulator to ban the use of federal subsidies for acquisition of its products, and suggested that it was politically motivated.