President Trump Signs Federal Ban on Kaspersky Lab Software

President Donald Trump signed into law on Dec 12 legislation that bans the use of Kaspersky Lab within the US government, capping a months-long effort to purge the Moscow-based antivirus firm from federal agencies amid concerns it was vulnerable to Kremlin influence. The ban, included as part of a broader defense policy spending bill that Trump signed, reinforces a directive issued by the Trump administration in September that civilian agencies remove Kaspersky Lab software within 90 days. The law applies to both civilian and military networks.

“The case against Kaspersky is well-documented and deeply concerning. This law is long overdue,” said Sen Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), who led calls in Congress to scrub the software from government computers. She added that the company’s software represented a “grave risk” to U.S. national security.