Trump Signs Into Law US Government Ban on Kaspersky Lab Software (reuters.com)

President Donald Trump signed into law on Tuesday legislation that bans the use of Kaspersky Lab within the U.S. government, capping a months-long effort to purge the Moscow-based antivirus firm from federal agencies amid concerns it was vulnerable to Kremlin influence. From a report: 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 Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen, 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.

Comments

Re:B-b-but CBS and CNN say Trump colludes w/ Russi

[bobbied]

I just assume ALL news I hear is fake until I can verify it myself and/or a couple of days have passed without it being withdrawn or changed..

I also distrust ANY story that happens during a political campaign where the timing is suspiciously of benefit to one candidate over the other and involves some recently "discovered" evidence/witness of something that is alleged to have happened years ago, but only now was discovered.

Come to think of it.. I don't really believe much of what passes as "news" for most sheeple..

Stuxnet

[Anonymous Coward]

It's payback for Kaspersky uncovering Stuxnet.

Never trust anything until it has been banned

[AHuxley]

The world was told about Stuxnet, Flame, Equation Group https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
Instead of encouraging more research and security work, the US puts a ban on a company that helps keep the internet safe.

Back to the days of Magic Lantern (software) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... and thoughts of US AV antivirus vendor cooperation.

Re:They should just for the heck of it ...

[msauve]

Hey, if it's not NSA approved spyware, it's outlawed!

Big Brother is Watching You. IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH!

Re:B-b-but CBS and CNN say Trump colludes w/ Russi

[Hylandr]

You may think you're funny, but in all honesty Bobbied speaks the truth of the reality of our government.

Nobody is buying the media horse-shit anymore. It's all about chasing the dollar and pitching for the people they want in office is not only a protected American right, it can be very profitable if the right people get elected. Trump has proven that with his campaign spending. Both sides do it too.

So no, I don't really believe what's in the news anymore either. So much of it is the little boy that cried wolf, chicken little, or false flag action with just *enough* truth to sound plausible.

Re: Trump colludes w/ Russia!!

[Bert64]

No, a company in russian jurisdiction makes and sells that software.
Being located within russia means they are beholden to the demands of the russian government. If the russian government demands backdoor access to their software then the company has no choice but to comply unless the company owners want to go to a russian jail.

The US government is rightfully wary of any software or hardware coming from a non trusted source, and should not use it without thorough auditing first. Although this should apply to a *LOT* more than just kaspersky, all manner of hardware and software comes from China, and most commercial software companies even inside the US employ staff who have not been vetted by the US government too.

Of course it also goes the other way, no foreign government should accept anything from the US without being able to thoroughly audit it first either. Various US agencies have been talking about encryption backdoors for a while, and there have been a number of high profile leaks lately.

The US actually exports a lot more software than Russia does, so this will hurt them far more than it will hurt Russia.