Kaspersky Says “You Can Trust Us”

Eugene Kaspersky said through an interview with the BBC that there is no reason to mistrust his company, Kaspersky Lab, as he pleaded with U.S. customers to “stay with us.” This comes on the heels of an onslaught of verbal attack and U.S. government action directed against the prestige Moscow-based cybersecurity company. As reported in TechTarget, the Department of Homeland Security has directed all government agencies to get Kaspersky software off their systems within 90 days. The DHS says it is “concerned about the ties between certain Kaspersky officials and Russian intelligence and other government agencies, and requirements under Russian law that allow Russian intelligence agencies to request or compel assistance from Kaspersky and to intercept communications transiting Russian networks.” Other U.S. government agencies have already distanced themselves from the company, while in the private sector Best Buy has stopped selling its products. In July Kaspersky was removed from the list of companies approved to get U.S. government contracts. In addition to issuing the ban order, DHS said it was open to receiving a written reply to its concerns, and Eugene Kasperksy has accepted an invitation to testify before the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology. He maintains the company cooperates with law enforcement agencies generally, U.S. as well as Russian. He also told BBC that the company gets virtually no business from the U.S. government, but that other markets in the United States account for about a quarter of the company’s business. Subsequent to the Best Buy blacklisting, Kasperksy said he had positive discussions with other retailers, and apparently no other major retailer has chosen to follow Best Buy’s lead.