Kaspersky Under Fire By Feds for Potential Kremlin Ties

15 Sept 2017 · 2 min

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The NECM Business segment revisits the controversy surrounding Kaspersky Lab, a Russian‑owned cybersecurity firm headquartered in Woburn, MA. Federal agencies have been instructed to cease using Kaspersky products over alleged connections to the Kremlin, prompting a cascade of reactions. Kaspersky publicly refutes the accusations, claiming they misinterpret Russian laws. In response, Best Buy announced it will no longer sell Kaspersky software. Cybersecurity expert Robert Siciliano (Hotspot Shield) expresses skepticism, questioning the plausibility of a hidden backdoor and noting that competitors like McAfee or Symantec would likely have discovered it. The report also references an earlier NBC interview where reporter Richard Engel highlighted Eugene Kaspersky’s attendance at a KGB‑run technical school, which Kaspersky denies indicates any current intelligence collaboration. The segment presents the federal ban, corporate denials, market repercussions, expert analysis, and historical allegations as a snapshot of the unfolding debate.

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Now to a follow-up story we first reported to you last night here on NECN Business. We're now hearing from Kaspersky Lab, the Russian-owned cybersecurity firm with its US headquarters in Woburn, Massachusetts. Federal agencies have been told to stop using this company's software because the company is allegedly connected to the Kremlin. Kaspersky now says that's not true. Our Alicia Palumbo is in Woburn.
The federal government's decision to stop using Kaspersky Labs 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 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 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 technology, 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— He was 16. Yeah, he 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 US headquarters in Woburn, Alicia Palumbo, NECN.