Kaspersky sues US for ban on government use of Kaspersky software

Kaspersky opposes the ban on the use of its software by the US government. The US Department of Homeland Security instituted the ban in September, but Kaspersky is now challenging the ban in court.

According to Kaspersky, the department’s decision is unconstitutional and is based on subjective, non-technical sources such as unconfirmed quoted media reports and rumors. Kaspersky also believes that his right to a fair trial has been violated, as the security company claims that the Department of Homeland Security never gave Kaspersky the opportunity to respond. No further evidence has been provided for the allegations, the company said.

Kaspersky believes it has suffered unnecessary damage as a result of the actions of the Department of Homeland Security. That damage would consist of the company’s reputation in the IT sector and the decline in sales in the US.

Last week, President Donald Trump signed a law banning US government agencies from using Kaspersky software. This ban is mainly symbolic, as almost all government agencies had already removed the Kaspersky software from their computers a few months ago. The US Senate already voted in September on the bill that included the Kaspersky ban.

The US government believes that the presence of Russian software on government computers opens the door to espionage, for example through backdoors. Kaspersky has always denied cooperating with the Russian government and has offered to let independent experts look at the source code of its programs. According to the US government, that is not enough.

The Department of Homeland Security has not responded to a request for comment from Reuters. Kaspersky is a Russian maker of antimalware software and digital security products.