Kaspersky Lab, which is a Russian cyber-security company, is well known for its anti-virus software across the world. Lately, it reacted to the move by the US government regarding confining its activities and said that it has fallen prey to US–Russia global quarreling, whereas the Kremlin criticized the US deed as politically driven. The Moscow-based firm was removed by the Trump administration from lists of permitted merchants used by government organizations for buying technology equipment, owing to concerns that its products can be utilized by the Kremlin to acquire access to the US networks.
RIA news agency mentioned the press service of the company saying, “Kaspersky Lab, by all appearances, happened to be pulled into a geopolitical combat where each side is seeking to use the firm as a pawn in its game.” According to the company, Eugene Kaspersky, the Company head, has more than once offered conference with the officials of the US government and has offered to verify to the US Congress “to answer all questions that may arise to the US government.”
A spokeswoman for the agency told that the products of Kaspersky have been withdrawn from the vendors’ list of the US General Services Administration (GSA) for contracts that include digital photographic equipment and information technology services. The priorities of GSA are to certify the security and integrity of the US government networks and systems. However, the government organizations will still be able to use Kaspersky products bought discretely from the GSA contract procedure.
The Kremlin said that it mourned the move by the US against Kaspersky Lab, saying, “We certainly consider that this is a politicized decision”.Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for the Kremlin, said, “This is a completely commercial firm that offers commercial services, which are not just competitive but are globally super-competitive.”
Concerns were raised by the US lawmakers that Moscow may use the products of the company to attack American computer networks, which is a predominantly sensitive matter given accusation by the US intelligence agencies. It believed that Russia has hacked and eventually leaked emails of the Democratic Party political groups to meddle in the 2016 presidential election drive. However, the accusation is denied by Russia.