(Washington) Washington announced economic sanctions on Friday against 12 managers of the Russian company Kaspersky after having banned the use of its antivirus software in the United States the day before, accusing the cybersecurity giant of being close to Moscow , which he denies.
These sanctions are a “response to ongoing information security risks,” the Treasury Department said in a statement.
These 12 company executives, who are responsible for development, human resources and even communications, have their assets in the United States frozen, as well as those of the entities they directly or indirectly control. They are also prohibited from trading there.
State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller emphasized that “Kaspersky cybersecurity products and solutions provide broad access to files” on “computers where the software is installed.”
However, he added, “Kaspersky is subject to the jurisdiction, control or direction of the Russian government, which could exploit this privileged access to obtain sensitive data, including personal information or circumvent security measures computer science “.
The spokesperson warned that this poses “an unacceptable risk to the internal security of the United States or […] Americans”.
Kaspersky is one of the world’s leading names in IT security.
On Thursday, the Commerce Department said the Russian company would no longer be allowed to sell its software in the United States or to American citizens elsewhere in the world or provide updates to software already in use.
This prohibition also applies to affiliates, subsidiaries and parent companies of Kaspersky Lab.
Kaspersky will still be allowed to conduct some activities until September 29, to give customers time to find an alternative.
The United States accuses the company of being close to Moscow, which it fiercely denies, claiming that it has “repeatedly demonstrated its independence from any government” and asserting that the United States has “ignored this evidence.”
Kaspersky condemned in a statement a decision “made based on the current geopolitical climate and theoretical fears” that “benefits cybercrime.” She has defended herself against such suspicions for years.
The company also plans to challenge the decision in court.
The Kremlin, for its part, denounced on Friday “unfair competition” from Washington. It is “the United States’ preferred technique of unfair competition. They use it every time,” criticized the spokesperson for the Russian presidency, Dmitry Peskov.
“Kaspersky Lab is a very internationally competitive company that in many ways outperforms its competitors,” he said.
Three entities linked to Kaspersky were also added to a Washington blacklist on Thursday, “for their cooperation with Russian military and intelligence authorities in support of the Russian government’s cyberespionage objectives.”
In March 2022, the United States Federal Communications Commission had added security products, solutions and services provided, directly or indirectly, by Kaspersky, to the “list of communications equipment and services that pose a threat to homeland security “.
Several European countries have also expressed their concern about this cybersecurity giant. Germany recommended, a few weeks after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, to avoid using its services. Italy had opened an investigation.
At the end of 2023, the Canadian government decided to ban its civil servants from using Kaspersky tools on their professional phones.
Suspected for years by Western countries of collaborating — willingly or by force — with the Russian authorities, the company announced at the end of 2020 that it had completed the transfer of its Western customers’ data to its data center in Switzerland.
Kaspersky has offices in 31 countries and customers in more than 200 countries and territories, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce, which says the company provides cybersecurity products and services to more than 400 million users and 270,000 businesses.