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Trump Signs Into Law US Government Ban on Kaspersky Lab Software (reuters.com) 140

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.
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Trump Signs Into Law US Government Ban on Kaspersky Lab Software

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  • You'll find out on Thursday.

    Or Saturday if you wait for the distracting tweets.

  • ... rebrand to "All-American US Antiviral" and use some sort of Eagle + Stars & Stripes thingie as their logo/CI.

    I have not a single doubt they'd be back into business in no time.

    • by msauve ( 701917 )
      Hey, if it's not NSA approved spyware, it's outlawed!

      Big Brother is Watching You. IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH!
  • by Anonymous Coward

    So, Trump signed a law banning Kaspersky software in the US?

    How about making a few changes to look like less of an asshat.: "Trump Signs Law Banning US Government Purchases of Kaspersky Lab Software."

    • by JustNiz ( 692889 )

      I totally agree, but the truth wouldn't be half as sensational.
      .
      Didn't you already know that drama always beats facts these days, especially if you're a Democrat.

  • Stuxnet (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward

    It's payback for Kaspersky uncovering Stuxnet.

  • by AHuxley ( 892839 ) on Tuesday December 12, 2017 @08:49PM (#55728973) Journal
    The world was told about Stuxnet, Flame, Equation Group https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
    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/... [wikipedia.org] and thoughts of US AV antivirus vendor cooperation.
    • by JustNiz ( 692889 )

      Ivan is that you?

    • I agree 100%. The only people who can possibly keep us safe... are located in a country with horrific human rights abuses and clear national-level spying and military intrusion against our country. We NEED those guys to 'protect' us!

      And this is Slashdot. If you've got a virus on your machine, you're already 99% fucked. Stop downloading "Britney Spears Naked.exe" from Kazaa you blockheads. Download some FOSS shit like Clamwin and downloading stupid shit.

      I mean, you're making out a SINGLE anti-virus company (

  • Public decision upon lies and propaganda. Nothing changed much since the story of Irak's weapons of mass destruction. Except of course that this order will not cause a country to be invaded.
    • by JustNiz ( 692889 )

      > Public decision upon lies and propaganda. ...and you know this how? If it was, I'm sure a democrat senator wouldn't also be saying that the law was long overdue.

  • ...and that would be embarrassing to find inside the US on government computers, right?

  • Kaspersky is just one kind of band-aide on the hemorrhage that is Microsoft software. Band Microsoft products and you won't even need to bother with Kaspersky to start with.

  • If you read the EULA for any anti-virus product it will explain to you in the plainest of terms that use of said product allows uploading of software deemed as potential virus/malware for analysis. In the case of Kaspersky AV I have yet to see any evidence of any behavior beyond what the terms of your typical AV software EULA spells out. If some dipshit fed didn't bother to read this EULA before testing spookware on a box with Kaspersky AV installed it seems pretty obvious where the blame should be placed.

  • Won't this allow Kaspersky to sue US because a law is bad for their cash ?
    There are something like that in many treaties, between Europe and Canada for example.
    Governments make laws. Corporations feel armed and sue. People pay taxes to pay corporations.
    (sorry, I miss the correct English vocabulary to describe properly)

    • It would make sense. Once ol' Cheetos head started his witch hunt on Kaspersky, I saw BestBuy in Canada mark the products down to $5 (was even in a flyer). The following week when the flyer ended Ol' BB was proclaiming they yanked all copies off the shelf
  • So does BestBuy get a govt kick back for being loyal to ol' Cheetos head by marking down their copies of Kaspersky to around $5-$10? Then claim in a patriotic PR post that they enthusiastically yankrd them off the shelf
  • If you don't let our spooks install backdoors into your software, no government contracts for you.

  • by Anonymous Coward

    This is one of the best advertisements for Kapersky anti-virus yet.

  • On the one hand the US government is banning Kaspersky software because they claim it's a "grave security risk" that contains back doors.

    On the other hand the US government is publicly criticising and shaming technology vendors like Apple and Google for refusing to add back doors to their products.

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