US may impose sanctions on Russian company Kaspersky Lab

The US Department of Commerce may impose new restrictions against Kaspersky Lab. This was reported by The Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the situation.

Here's What We Know

In 2022, US President Joe Biden's administration stepped up scrutiny of Kaspersky Lab's anti-virus software. This was due to growing fears of possible Russian cyber attacks after Russia launched a full-scale war against Ukraine.

The Commerce Department plans to make full use of the authority to protect American users from espionage and disinformation, which companies from potentially hostile countries may engage in. The latter include Russia and China. The agency will review online security regulations, under which the regulator has the power to ban applications if they pose a threat to national security.

Kaspersky Lab has stated that it does not promote cyber espionage and does not cooperate with the governments of any countries, including Russia. However, the Russian company's software was excluded from federal government networks several years ago when Donald Trump was president of the United States.

The US Department of Commerce did not comment on possible new restrictions. Kaspersky Lab representatives have not commented on the information that has emerged.

Source: Reuters