US government announces sanctions against 12 executives and senior leaders of Russia-based cybersecurity giant Kaspersky,
in a press releaseThe Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said it has designated 12 company executives to protect internet users from malicious cyber threats.
“Today’s action against Kaspersky Lab’s leadership underscores our commitment to ensuring the integrity of our cyber domain and protecting our citizens from malicious cyber threats,” the press release quoted Brian E. Nelson, Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, as saying. “The United States will take action when necessary to hold accountable those who seek to facilitate or otherwise enable these activities.”
The list of sanctioned individuals includes several Kaspersky board members, including Andrei Anatolyevich Efremov, who is also Kaspersky’s chief business development officer, and Igor Gennadyevich Chekunov, who serves as the company’s chief legal officer.
Also banned are Kaspersky’s global human resources head Marina Mikhailovna Alekseev, the company’s communications head Denis Vladimirovich Genkin, and chief technology officer Anton Mikhailovich Ivanov.
OFAC said it has not imposed any sanctions on Kaspersky, its parent or subsidiaries, or the company’s founder and Chief Executive Officer, Eugene Kaspersky.
A Treasury spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment asking why CEO Kaspersky was not included in the sanctions. A Kaspersky spokesman also did not respond to a request for comment.
Today’s sanctions will make it even more difficult for designated executives to start a new company, and will effectively block US customers and businesses from making payments to Kaspersky. Earlier this year, the US government Similar restrictions imposed A case has been filed against spyware maker Intelexa and its founder.
These restrictions have been imposed a day later. US government announces “first of its kind” ban A ban on the sale of Kaspersky software in the United States, which will take effect on July 20. Kaspersky will still be able to provide software updates to existing customers, but only until September 29. After that, US customers who still use Kaspersky will no longer be able to receive updates, leaving their antivirus software out of date and possibly unable to stop the latest cybersecurity threats.
Kaspersky spokesman Sawyer Vanhorn said on Thursday that the company would challenge the ban.
The U.S. government has taken action against Kaspersky for several years because it fears it could be used as a tool to influence the Russian government, help hack American targets or otherwise harm national security.
In September 2017, the Trump administration The use of the company’s software was banned in government agenciesEarlier that year, Russian government hackers had Allegedly stole US classified documents The incident occurred on the home computer of an intelligence contractor, which was running Kaspersky antivirus software at the time.
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