The US has announced plans to ban the sale of antivirus software made by the Russian firm Kaspersky due to its alleged connections to the Kremlin.
Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo stated on Thursday that Moscow’s influence over the company posed a significant risk to US infrastructure and services.
She explained that the US was compelled to act because of Russia’s “capacity and intent to collect and weaponize the personal information of Americans.”
“Kaspersky will generally no longer be able to, among other activities, sell its software within the United States or provide updates to software already in use,” the Commerce Department said.
Kaspersky announced its intention to pursue “all legally available options” to contest the ban and denied any involvement in activities that threatened US security.
The plan leverages broad powers established by the Trump administration to ban or restrict transactions between US firms and tech companies from “foreign adversary” nations like Russia and China.
Effective from 29 September, the plan will bar downloads of software updates, resales, and licensing of Kaspersky products. New business transactions will be restricted within 30 days of the announcement.
Violators of these restrictions will face fines from the Commerce Department.
Additionally, the Commerce Department will list two Russian units and one UK-based unit of Kaspersky for allegedly collaborating with Russian military intelligence.
Kaspersky has been a target for US regulators for years. In 2017, the Department of Homeland Security banned its flagship antivirus product from federal networks due to alleged ties to Russian intelligence.
While headquartered in Moscow, the multinational firm has offices in 31 countries and serves over 400 million users and 270,000 corporate clients in more than 200 countries, according to the Commerce Department.
The number of affected customers in the US remains classified business data, but a Commerce Department official told Reuters that it is a “significant number,” including state and local governments as well as companies in telecommunications, power, and healthcare.
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