For the first time, a Russian corporate entity has been put on the list of National Security Threats by the FCC. Kaspersky AV, which is headquartered in Moscow, was created by Eugene Kaspersky whom US officials have referred to as a former Russian intelligence officer. This is not the first time a foreign company has been added to the list; Kaspersky now joins several China-based companies like Huawei, ZTE and most recently China Telecom and China Mobile International USA.
Kaspersky has released a statement saying they are “disappointed by the decision” and note that they feel the decision was not based on technological assessments of risk, but on political grounds.
No BIT managed services clients are using Kaspersky products and there is no risk at current.
