The delisting factors the most particular action taken against Kaspersky coming months of rising suspicion among intelligence officials and legislators that the organization may be too closely related to hostile Russian intelligence agencies involved in cyber attacks on the United States.
Kaspersky products have been excluded from the U.S. General Services Administration’s lineup of merchants for deals that cover information technology assistance and digital photographic equipment, an agency spokeswoman said in a report.
The move was taken “after discussion and careful deliberation,” the spokeswoman said, continuing that GSA’s priorities “are to secure the integrity and security of U.S. government systems and networks.”
Government offices will still be able to use Kaspersky Labs purchased separately from the GSA contract process.
Kaspersky’s anti-virus software is successful in the United States and around the world, and the firm has remained a leading player in the cyber security market for decades.
In a statement, Kaspersky Lab said it had not got any updates from GSA or any other U.S. government office regarding its vendor status.
“Kaspersky Lab holds no ties to any government, and the corporation has never helped, nor will help, any authority in the world with its cyber espionage efforts,” the company said.
It continued that it had been “caught in the middle of a geopolitical fight where every side is attempting to use the company as a pawn in their political game.”
The delisting was made the same day that ABC News reported the Trump’s government was thinking implementing a broader ban that would block agencies from using Kaspersky software.
Last month the Senate Armed Services Committee announced a defense spending policy bill that would ban Kaspersky commodities from use in the military. The movement came a day after the FBI interviewed several of the company’s U.S. employees at their individual homes as part of a counterintelligence investigation into its operations.
In May senior U.S. intelligence leaders said in testimony since the Senate Intelligence Committee that they were studying government use of software from Kaspersky Lab.
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