US Senate bans government from using Kaspersky software

The US Senate has voted in favor of a bill banning US government agencies from using Kaspersky software. This ban is being imposed because the use of the software is seen as a risk to national security.

The vote on the ban was part of the National Defense Authorization Act via an amendment, a law that allocates an annual budget to the US Department of Defense. According to a Democratic senator, the ban removes a vulnerability in US national security. The House of Representatives has yet to vote on the bill; that will probably happen shortly. Only then will the ban actually take effect.

Recently it became clear that the US government will probably stop using Kaspersky software. The Department of Homeland Security has ordered federal agencies to create a plan to remove software from the Russian company within 90 days. This only concerned civil government institutions; the ban voted on by the Senate also covers the use of Kaspersky software by government military services.

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. In July, Kaspersky was already removed from an approved supplier list.

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.