The US Congress Is Investigating Government Use Of Kaspersky Software (reuters.com)

An anonymous reader quotes Reuters: A U.S. congressional panel this week asked 22 government agencies to share documents on Moscow-based cyber firm Kaspersky Lab, saying its products could be used to carry out "nefarious activities against the United States," according to letters seen by Reuters. The requests made on Thursday by the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science, Space and Technology are the latest blow to the antivirus company, which has been countering accusations by U.S. officials that it may be vulnerable to Russian government influence... The committee "is concerned that Kaspersky Lab is susceptible to manipulation by the Russian government, and that its products could be used as a tool for espionage, sabotage, or other nefarious activities against the United States," wrote the panel's Republican chairman, Lamar Smith, in the letters... A committee aide told Reuters the survey was a "first step" designed to canvas the U.S. government and that more action may follow depending on the results.
Agencies contacted include both the Deparatment of Homeland Security and NASA. The committee wants to see internal risk assessments, plus a list of all systems using Kaspersky products and the names of government contractors using the software.

Comments

Decisions, decisions

[nbauman]

Should I get anti-virus software that's pwned by Russia, or anti-virus software that's pwned by the US?

Do unto others ...

[Troed]

The best part of all this is that it tells the rest of the world how much we should trust software produced by US based companies.

But muh red-baiting!

[ErikTheRed]

This has got to be the dumbest tempest in a teapot ever conceived. The funny thing is that it's based on projection - it's the sort of short-term idiocy that American politicians and bureaucrats endlessly engage in. Putin may be a cold, ultranationalistic tyrant, but he's an extremely smart cold, ultranationalistic tyrant who is going to be in power for either as long as he wants to be or until somebody assassinates him. This gives him the luxury of taking the long view on issues.

To use Kaspersky's software against a foreign superpower is only a smart move as an opening shot in a hot war. This is because any spying or other mischief done through their product will almost certainly be caught. It's a (pardon the expression) trump card - you only get to play this card once and it's burnt forever. The only reason to worry about Kaspersky's software is if you're worried about a hot war with Russia, which is a mind-blowingly dumb move on either side. There are plenty of US politicians that are dumb enough to go there - they "need" to keep that military-industrial complex gravy train rolling, and people riled up about furr'ners tend are easy to make sign on to any asshat agenda.