The United States Federal Communications Commission has added to Kaspersky, China Mobile and China Telecom to the list of companies who consider that pose a security risk unacceptable for US national security. They thus join five other companies, such as Huawei and ZTE, which became part of said list a year ago.
This decision means that US companies cannot use money from the Commission’s Universal Service Fund of 8,000 million dollars to buy Kaspersky security products and services, as well as the solutions of all kinds that it has for sale. It also prevents companies from using your security services. And not only from Kaspersky, but also from all companies directly related to it, such as its subsidiaries and affiliates.
According to him FCC Commissioner Brendan Carthe United States will be able, with this decision, to secure its networks against «threats posed by government-backed entities of Russia and China that seek to engage in espionage and other ways to harm United States interests«. Carr has also pointed out that «The FCC plays a critical role in securing our nation’s communications networks, and keeping our list up to date is an important tool we have at our disposal to do so.«.
However, the step that the United States has taken with Kaspersky, without citing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, is quite symbolic, since since 2017, when ordered by Donald Trump, the federal government, and its agencies, are prohibited from using Kaspersky software.
Kaspersky’s reaction has not been long in coming, and as usual, they have not received the decision well. The company has issued a statement in which they highlight that «this decision is not based on a technical analysis of Kaspersky products, something that the company always asks for, but is made based on political decisions«. In addition, they also state that they are prepared to cooperate with the FCC and other US government agencies to address any regulatory compliance concerns they may have.
