US Adds Kaspersky to List of Firms Posing Threat to National Security

HackerOne and Dicker Data have also cut ties with Kaspersky after FCC’s decision amid the ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia.

FCC’s Covered List signifies firms considered a threat and could pose an “unacceptable risk” to US national security. For the very first time, the agency has included a Russian firm to this list, which so far had been dominated by Chinese telecom firms.

Chinese Telecom Firms Also Added to Threat List

Apart from including Kaspersky, the FCC has also included China Telecom (Americas) corporation and China Mobile International USA on the block list. For your information, the block list comprises information security products and direct/indirect services and solutions supplied by the firm or its parents, successors, predecessors, subsidiaries, and/or affiliates.

Dicker Data Ends Commercial Relation with Kaspersky

An Australian technology distribution firm Dicker Data has formally ended its commercial relationship with software vendor Kaspersky. Its CEO David Dicker stated that Western nations have a responsibility to retaliate against Russian atrocity against a weaker nation, Ukraine. Moreover, Dicker Data’s chief operating officer, Vladimir Mitnovetski, is from Ukraine, so the company is directly affected by Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine.

Kaspersky’s Response

Kaspersky stated that it was disappointed by the FCC’s decision. The company claims this seems to be a politically motivated decision rather than a technical one.

Kaspersky maintains that the US Government’s 2017 prohibitions on federal entities and federal contractors from using Kaspersky products and services were unconstitutional, based on unsubstantiated allegations, and lacked any public evidence of wrongdoing by the company.

Kaspersky

Kaspersky also confirmed Dicker Data’s disassociation with the company and thanked them for their support since 2019.

HackerOne Disabled Kaspersky’s Bug Bounty Program

On Friday, Kaspersky’s bug bounty program was indefinitely banned by bug bounty platform HackerOne after sanctions were imposed on Belarus and Russia following the invasion of Ukraine. It blocked Kaspersky’s access to the program and froze the company’s existing funds.

HackerOne stated that the company will keep working with “appropriate entities” on sanctions and have suspended programs for customers from Russia and Belarus and sanctioned Ukraine areas.

Kaspersky claims that this is a “unilateral action,” as sanctions do not justify HackerOne’s suspension since these weren’t imposed on Kaspersky.

Previous Coverage

Hackread earlier reported that Germany’s Federal Office for Information Security, Bundesamt für Sicherheit in der Informationstechnik (BSI), has urged users to stop using Kaspersky products and uninstall them from their devices. The BSI issued a press release on 15 March, warning users to avoid using Kaspersky’s security products given the recent threats from Russia against Germany, NATO, and EU.