Kaspersky is a well-known security company based in Moscow that makes a popular antivirus software package. Over the last few years they have been in and out of hot water regarding their alleged relationship to the Russian government. But last month the US government drastically upped the ante by immediately banning the sale of Kaspersky software and banning its use on September 29th. The Department of Commerce claims that there is an unacceptable risk to national security to allow the software to continue to be used. Kaspersky, of course, refutes that assessment. This action seems to be the latest escalation in a war against international products made by companies with perceived connections to authoritarian governments. Remember the Trump administration’s ban on Huawei and the Biden administration’s attempted sale of Tiktok? So where does this latest action against Kaspersky leave users? While I personally don’t believe there is a risk to regular users, any security software that doesn’t get regular updates (such as Kaspersky after September) isn’t very useful. If you currently use Kaspersky you have several months to find a replacement. Let us know if you need any guidance during that process.
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