Kaspersky Lab chief to show US government company source code
03 Jul 2017
Security firm Kaspersky Lab CEO Eugene Kaspersky yesterday told the Associated Press that he was willing to show the US government his company's source code. ''Anything I can do to prove that we don't behave maliciously I will do it,'' Kaspersky said while insisting that he was willing to testify before Congress as well.
The company's move comes after a proposal by the Senate that ''prohibits the [Defence Department] from using software platforms developed by Kaspersky Lab.''
The proposal said, ''The Secretary of Defence shall ensure that any network connection between … the Department of Defense and a department or agency of the United States Government that is using or hosting on its networks a software platform [associated with Kaspersky Lab] is immediately severed.''
Jeanne Shaheen, a New Hampshire Democrat told ABC News, that there was ''a consensus in Congress and among administration officials that Kaspersky Lab cannot be trusted to protect critical infrastructure.''
The concerns stem from years of suspicion from the FBI that Kaspersky Labs was too close to the Russian government. The company, based in Russia had worked with both Moscow and the FBI in the past, often serving as a go-between to help the two governments cooperate. ''As a private company, Kaspersky Lab has no ties to any government, and the company has never helped, nor will help, any government in the world with its cyberespionage efforts,'' an official statement from Kaspersky Labs reads.
Russian communications minister Nikolay Nikiforov responding to the development, warned that any ''unilateral political sanctions'' would prompt retaliation from Russia. He emphasised that his government used ''a huge proportion of American software and hardware solutions in the IT sphere, even in very sensitive areas.''
According to commentators, the fight over source code comes at a moment when distrust of the Russian government among Americans is running high due to the alleged Russian involvement in the hacking of the 2016 election as also suspicious ties to president Trump's presidential campaign