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The cybersecurity firm Kaspersky denied Friday that it is a security threat after the U.S. Commerce Department banned the use of its software in the United States.<\/p>\n
The Moscow-based company \u2014 whose CEO Eugene Kaspersky is Russian \u2014 said in a statement that the\u00a0Commerce Department\u2019s decision<\/a>\u00a0would not affect its ability to sell and promote its cyber security products and training in the U.S.<\/p>\n Kaspersky said the government had based its decision on the \u201cgeopolitical climate and theoretical concerns\u201d rather than independently verifying if there was a risk.<\/p>\n The government says\u00a0Kaspersky\u2019s<\/a>\u00a0Russian connections mean the company poses an \u201cundue or unacceptable risk to U.S. national security or the safety and security.\u201d<\/p>\n The company conducts much of its business in Russia and, as a Russian citizen who lives in that country, Eugene Kaspersky himself is subject to Russian law, the Commerce Department said in a decision dated June 14 that was posted on the Federal Register.<\/p>\n The department said it had considered Kaspersky\u2019s objections to the initial findings of its investigation into whether its products or services posed a threat and found that the decision to ban its software was \u201cwell supported.\u201d<\/p>\n Aside from the company\u2019s obligation to abide by Russian laws and decisions, its software can be exploited to identify sensitive U.S. citizens\u2019 data and make it available to Russian government actors, the department said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe risks to U.S. national security addressed in this Final Determination stem not from whether Kaspersky\u2019s products are effective at identifying viruses and other malware, but whether they can be used strategically to cause harm to the United States,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n Kaspersky boasts one of the world\u2019s most popular consumer antivirus products and a research unit widely respected for routinely exposing elite hacking groups.<\/p>\n