The Kaspersky Controversy Continue to Grow
Yesterday, I wrote on Twitter banning Kaspersky’s ads from their social media platform. Now, new reports have suggested the U.S. will consider placing a sanction on all Kaspersky products. This means, all Kaspersky operations will be banned, including their U.S. operations. According to CyberScoop, New Hampshire Senator Jeanne Shaheen, believes sanctions against Kaspersky Labs is “a logical next step”. Sen. Shaheen is familiar with the Kaspersky scandal, as she led the efforts to remove the software from government computers and reported there is overwhelming evidence of close ties and cooperation between Kaspersky Lab and the Kremlin.
None of the evidence has been provided to the public, but Kaspersky adamantly denies the allegations. Below you will find a timeline of events regarding the Kaspersky scandal:
- May, 2017 – Marco Rubio asks Senate Intelligence Committee if they would be willing to use Kaspersky on their devices — overwhelming consensus was “No”.
- July, 2017 – Legislation worked towards banning Kaspersky products on military devices
- July, 2017 – Russians Communication Minister made threats against American software and hardware companies, if legislation banning Kaspersky were to pass
- August, 2017 – U.S. Government urges the private sector to remove Kaspersky Labs products
- August, 2017 – U.S. Government confirms ties between Kaspersky Labs and Russian Intelligence
- September, 2017 – U.S. major electronics retailers, including Best Buy and Office Depot, drop Kaspersky products from their shelves
- September, 2017 – West Virginia University drops Kaspersky as their security provider
- September, 2017 – U.S. government ordered federal agencies to remove Kaspersky products on all devices
- October, 2017 – Allegations were reported the Kremlin used Kaspersky security products to obtain confidential NSA data
- October, 2017 – Reports claim Israel warned the U.S. of Kaspersky after hacking its network
- December, 2017 – Kaspersky files a lawsuit against the U.S. regarding the congressional ban of Kaspersky products.
- March, 2018 – Department of Justice moves to dismiss the Kaspersky lawsuit
- April, 2018 – Twitter bans Kaspersky ads from its social media platform
- April, 2018 – U.S. considers sanctioning Kaspersky products
