US bans sale of Kaspersky software citing Russian security risks

The United States of America has placed a ban on the sale and use of Kaspersky software in its domain citing security risks from Vladimir Putin’s Russia.

On Thursday, the U.S. authorities declared that Kaspersky antivirus software would no longer be sold across the country and asked users to move to an alternate provider.

The Bureau of Industry and Security of the Commerce Department announced that it had implemented the “first of its kind” ban, claiming that Kaspersky’s Russian basis puts consumers’ privacy and national security at risk.

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“Russia has shown it has the capacity, and even more than that, the intent to exploit Russian companies like Kaspersky to collect and weaponize the personal information of Americans.

‘‘And that’s why we are compelled to take the action that we’re taking today,” U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said in a call with reporters.

According to Raimondo, Kaspersky will be banned from selling its software to American consumers and businesses starting on July 20, after that the company would no longer be permitted to push software updates to U.S. customers.

“That means your software and services will degrade. That’s why I strongly recommend that you immediately find an alternative to Kaspersky,” Raimondo said.

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