Fri Jul 28, 2017 | 3:32 PM EDT Exclusive: Congres
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Posted On: 07/30/2017 10:49:41 PM
Fri Jul 28, 2017 | 3:32 PM EDT
Exclusive: Congress asks U.S. agencies for Kaspersky Lab cyber documents
Photo
FILE PHOTO: A general view of the headquarters of Russian cyber security company Kaspersky Labs in Moscow July 29, 2013.
REUTERS/SERGEI KARPUKHIN/FILE PHOTO
By Dustin Volz | LAS VEGAS
(Reuters) - A U.S. congressional panel this week asked 22 government agencies to share documents on Moscow-based cyber firm Kaspersky Lab, saying its products could be used to carry out "nefarious activities against the United States," according to letters seen by Reuters.
The requests made on Thursday by the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science, Space and Technology are the latest blow to the antivirus company, which has been countering accusations by U.S. officials that it may be vulnerable to Russian government influence.
The committee asked the agencies for all documents and communications about Kaspersky Lab products dating back to Jan. 1, 2013, including any internal risk assessments. It also requested lists of any systems that use Kaspersky products and the names of any U.S. government contractors or subcontractors that do so.
Kaspersky has repeatedly denied that it has ties to any government and said it would not help any government with cyber espionage. It said there is no evidence for the accusations made by U.S. officials.
The committee "is concerned that Kaspersky Lab is susceptible to manipulation by the Russian government, and that its products could be used as a tool for espionage, sabotage, or other nefarious activities against the United States," wrote the panel's Republican chairman, Lamar Smith, in the letters.
They were sent to all Cabinet-level agencies, including the Department of Commerce and Department of Homeland Security, as well as the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, among others.
A committee aide told Reuters the survey was a "first step" designed to canvas the U.S. government and that more action may follow depending on the results. The committee asked for responses by Aug. 11.
Kaspersky Lab, founded in 1997 and now counts over 400 million global customers, has tried largely in vain to become a vendor to the U.S. government, one of the world's biggest buyers of cyber tools.
Longstanding suspicions about the company grew in the United States when U.S.-Russia relations deteriorated following Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea and later when U.S. intelligence agencies determined that Russia interfered in the 2016 U.S. presidential election using cyber means.
Congress this week slapped new sanctions on Russia, in part in response to the allegations, which Moscow flatly denies. Moscow retaliated by ordering out some U.S. diplomats.
Exclusive: Congress asks U.S. agencies for Kaspersky Lab cyber documents
Photo
FILE PHOTO: A general view of the headquarters of Russian cyber security company Kaspersky Labs in Moscow July 29, 2013.
REUTERS/SERGEI KARPUKHIN/FILE PHOTO
By Dustin Volz | LAS VEGAS
(Reuters) - A U.S. congressional panel this week asked 22 government agencies to share documents on Moscow-based cyber firm Kaspersky Lab, saying its products could be used to carry out "nefarious activities against the United States," according to letters seen by Reuters.
The requests made on Thursday by the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science, Space and Technology are the latest blow to the antivirus company, which has been countering accusations by U.S. officials that it may be vulnerable to Russian government influence.
The committee asked the agencies for all documents and communications about Kaspersky Lab products dating back to Jan. 1, 2013, including any internal risk assessments. It also requested lists of any systems that use Kaspersky products and the names of any U.S. government contractors or subcontractors that do so.
Kaspersky has repeatedly denied that it has ties to any government and said it would not help any government with cyber espionage. It said there is no evidence for the accusations made by U.S. officials.
The committee "is concerned that Kaspersky Lab is susceptible to manipulation by the Russian government, and that its products could be used as a tool for espionage, sabotage, or other nefarious activities against the United States," wrote the panel's Republican chairman, Lamar Smith, in the letters.
They were sent to all Cabinet-level agencies, including the Department of Commerce and Department of Homeland Security, as well as the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, among others.
A committee aide told Reuters the survey was a "first step" designed to canvas the U.S. government and that more action may follow depending on the results. The committee asked for responses by Aug. 11.
Kaspersky Lab, founded in 1997 and now counts over 400 million global customers, has tried largely in vain to become a vendor to the U.S. government, one of the world's biggest buyers of cyber tools.
Longstanding suspicions about the company grew in the United States when U.S.-Russia relations deteriorated following Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea and later when U.S. intelligence agencies determined that Russia interfered in the 2016 U.S. presidential election using cyber means.
Congress this week slapped new sanctions on Russia, in part in response to the allegations, which Moscow flatly denies. Moscow retaliated by ordering out some U.S. diplomats.
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Get .... PrivacyLok https://cyberidguard.com/
Try SafeVchat: https://cyberidguard.com/
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