14 DAY TRIAL // Kaspersky Lab is stuck in the middle of a rather nasty fight between Washington and Moscow as the Russian-based anti-virus provider is being investigated by the US intelligence agencies.
Following news that US officials were more and more concerned about how Russian spies could use Kaspersky's software to spy on Americans and sabotage US systems, the National Security Agency has revealed that it is reviewing the government use of the company's products.
Mike Rogers, NSA Director, told a Senate committee that he was personally involved in monitoring the Kaspersky issue, but refrained from elaborating, most likely due to the sensitive nature of the situation.
Defense Intelligence Agency Director Vincent Stewart also confirmed the investigation saying they are tracking Kaspersky and their software.
Kaspersky's defense
Kaspersky has issued a statement earlier this week saying the allegations are false. "The company has a 20 year history in the IT security industry of always abiding by the highest ethical business practices, and Kaspersky Lab believes it is completely unacceptable that the company is being unjustly accused without any hard evidence to back up these false allegations," the statement reads.
The company points out that the reports are unlikely given how engaging in such an act would ruin a multi-million dollar business that took decades to build. Furthermore, Kaspersky notes that users have full control over telemetry sharing, with participation being voluntary.
Kaspersky also points out that over the past ten years, they've discovered and publicly reported on multiple Russian-speaking cyber espionage campaigns, despite the connection the company has with the country.
Eugene Kaspersky, the company's founder and CEO, also addressed the issue during an AMA session on Reddit. He said he would be happy to testify before the Senate to clear up any concerns regarding the products his company makes. "I respectfully disagree with their opinion, and I'm very sorry these gentlemen can't use the best software on the market because of political reasons," Kaspersky said.