US government stops using Kaspersky software

The US government will permanently stop using Kaspersky software. The Ministry of Homeland Security has ordered federal agencies to create a plan to remove software from the Russian company within 90 days.

The administration of President Donald Trump has banned the software because of the company’s alleged ties to Russian security services. Both the FBI and the NSA have been investigating Kaspersky Lab for some time.

Kaspersky was removed from a list of approved vendors in July, but now the US Department of Homeland Security has definitively ordered it to stop using the software, The New York Times reports.

The Senate will vote this week on a law banning Kaspersky Lab software. At the moment it is still a directive. Last week, the American retail chain Best Buy announced that it itself will stop selling software from Kaspersky Lab.

It is not known how many federal agencies use Kaspersky software, but the antivirus software in particular is said to be widely circulating. The Russian security company denies having any unauthorized links with intelligence services.