Report: Kaspersky Lab denies US accusations of ties with Kremlin
MOSCOW, Jun 29 (PRIME) -- Antivirus program maker Kaspersky Lab has found accusations by U.S. authorities of the company’s ties with the Russian government as inacceptable and unfounded, business daily Vedomosti reported on Thursday on its Web site.
“Kaspersky Lab is ready to respond to any questions and help any state entities in their investigation of its activities since the company is absolutely sure that any thorough study of its work will only prove that accusations of being engaged have no grounds,” a spokesperson for the company said.
The antivirus maker is a private company with no political ties to any country of the world, the spokesperson said.
Reuters reported that U.S. senators sought on Wednesday to ban Moscow-based cyber security company’s products from use by the military because of fears the company is vulnerable to “Russian government influence,” a day after the FBI interviewed several of its U.S. employees as part of a probe into its operations.
FBI agents visited the homes of Kaspersky employees late on Tuesday in multiple U.S. cities, although no search warrants were served, according to two sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the FBI probe, as Reuters reported.
Kaspersky Lab confirmed in a statement on Wednesday that FBI agents have had “brief interactions” with some of its U.S. employees, discussions that the company described as “due diligence” chats. The FBI declined to comment.
The interviews were followed on Wednesday by the release of a defense spending policy bill passed by the Senate Armed Services Committee, which would prohibit the U.S. Defense Department from using Kaspersky Lab software platforms because the company “might be vulnerable to Russian government influence,” according to a summary of the legislation.
U.S. Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen, who amended the spending bill to include the Kaspersky Lab language, said in a statement that “ties between Kaspersky Lab and the Kremlin are very alarming.”
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