Department of Homeland Security Bans Kaspersky

15 Sept 2017 · 2 min

Watch on YouTube

1:59

In this NECN news segment, reporter Alicia Palumbo covers the Trump administration’s decision to prohibit federal agencies from using cybersecurity products from Kaspersky Lab, a Russian‑based firm with a U.S. headquarters in Woburn, Massachusetts. The ban is justified by concerns that Kaspersky may have ties to Russian intelligence, prompting a ripple effect that includes Best Buy announcing it will stop selling Kaspersky software. Cybersecurity expert Robert Siciliano (Hotspot Shield) expresses skepticism, questioning whether any backdoor would have escaped detection by competitors like McAfee or Symantec. The segment also features excerpts from an earlier NBC interview with Kaspersky founder Eugene Kaspersky, who acknowledges attending a KGB‑run technical school at age 16 but denies any involvement of his company in Russian espionage. NBC reporter Richard Engel probes whether Kaspersky is merely a front for Russian intelligence, highlighting the ongoing debate over the firm’s trustworthiness.

Chapters

More reaction to the Trump administration's decision to ban the government from using products made by Kaspersky Lab in Woburn, Massachusetts. That is a Russian-based cybersecurity firm, again, that has its headquarters in Woburn. Our Alicia Palumbo has details.
The federal government's decision to stop using Kaspersky Lab cybersecurity products over concerns of possibly unethical ties to Russian intelligence is having a ripple effect throughout the Moscow-based company, including here at its US headquarters in Woburn. Even though Kaspersky Kaspersky has called the allegations completely unfounded and said the Russian policies and laws are being misinterpreted. Already, Best Buy has announced it will no longer sell Kaspersky software.
If there is even a breadcrumb of evidence that, uh, Kaspersky may be, uh, meddling with the Russian government, then obviously that is a problem for, uh, the feds.
But Robert Siciliano, a cybersecurity expert with Hotspot Shield, is skeptical that Kaspersky could get away with doing something like that.
If in fact there was some type of backdoor in Kaspersky's Don't you think McAfee or Symantec would have found it already? Their biggest competitors.
In an exclusive interview with NBC News reporter Richard Engel earlier this summer, billionaire Kaspersky owner Eugene Kaspersky addressed his reported ties to the KGB.
You went to a KGB-run school for technical— Yeah, I was 16. I was 16, yes.
But denied that his company is involved in any Russian spying.
Is all of this just a front for Russian intelligence? Zero contacts with offensive agencies in Russian intelligence.
In a statement this week in response to the federal order, Kaspersky Labs said that it, quote, has never helped nor will help any government in the world with its cyber espionage or offensive cyber efforts, and it's disconcerting that a private company can be considered guilty until proven innocent due to geopolitical issues. At Kaspersky's U.S. headquarters in Woburn, Alicia Palumbo, NECN.