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WASHINGTON: The United States on Friday imposed sanctions on 12 top leaders of Russia’s Kaspersky Lab, citing cybersecurity risks, a day after the Biden administration announced plans to ban sales of the Russian company’s antivirus software.
The sanctions target company leaders including the chief business development officer, chief operating officer, legal officer, and corporate communications director. The U.S. Treasury Department did not include Kaspersky Lab, its parent company or subsidiaries, or its CEO Eugene Kaspersky in the sanctions.
“Today’s action against Kaspersky Lab leadership underscores our commitment to ensuring the integrity of the cyber domain and protecting our citizens from malicious cyber threats,” U.S. Treasury Undersecretary Brian Nielsen said in a statement.
The move suggests the Biden administration is trying to eliminate any risk that Kaspersky software could spark Russian cyberattacks and keep up pressure on Russia as its war in Ukraine gains momentum again and U.S. sanctions on Russia are already insufficient.
AO Kaspersky, one of two Russian subsidiaries of Kaspersky Lab, was added to the U.S. Commerce Department’s trade restriction list on Thursday for allegedly working with Russian military BroadCast Unitedligence to support Moscow’s cyber BroadCast Unitedligence objectives.
Meanwhile, the US government announced on Thursday that it will take an unprecedented step to ban the sale, resale and update of Kaspersky products in the United States starting September 29.
U.S. authorities said the software posed a serious risk, pointing to Russian influence over the company, that its privileged access to computer systems enabled it to steal sensitive information from U.S. computers, and that it had the ability to install malware and block critical updates.
The sanctions announced on Friday prohibit U.S. companies or citizens from conducting trade or financial transactions with the sanctioned executives and freeze their assets held in the United States.
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