The move uses relatively new Commerce Department authorities built on executive orders signed by Presidents Joe Biden and Donald Trump to ban the use of software products by Russian firm, Kaspersky Lab, inside the US. Thursday’s announcement comes after CNN reported in April that the Biden administration was preparing to issue an order that would prevent US companies and citizens from using Kaspersky software.
“While we’ve been exploring every option at our disposal, we ultimately decided that given the Russian government’s continued offensive cyber capabilities and capacity to influence Kaspersky’s operations, that we have to take the significant measure of a full prohibition, if we’re going to protect Americans and their personal data,” she told reporters.