Russian Cybersecurity Firms Both Prized And Feared In West

A Western-oriented Moscow newspaper considers the effect of the Kaspersky Labs controversy on Kaspersky and other Russian cybersecurity companies, and the confusing mixed message that Western companies need to sort out when they consider retaining them. Government agencies in the U.S. have been ordered to avoid Kaspersky software, while the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre has gone farther than that, banning any Russian cybersecurity software from government departments, all because of their presumed or potential ties with Russian intelligence agencies. Kaspersky principal Gene Kasperksy vehemently denies such ties, but western skeptics maintain the fact that Russian-based cybersecurity companies must be licensed by the FSB, the Russian intelligence agency, means the FSB also has access. Ironically, the services of Russian companies have been in high demand in part because of their expertise in ferreting out and countering cyber threats from Russian hackers. Currently, a Russian company called Group-IB is said to have contracts with Fortune 500 companies, as well as an information-sharing agreement with Interpol.