From September 29, the United States will ban the use and sale of Kaspersky Anti-Virus in the
country

Kaspersky Lab, a Russian-based antivirus and cybersecurity company, has received two rounds of sanctions from the U.S. government. Kaspersky Antivirus products have been banned from sale in the U.S., with users having 100 days to find a functioning replacement before all functionality is ended.

Fearing connections with the Russian government, the United States Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) issued the first sanctions on Kaspersky on Thursday, issuing a Final Determination banning Kaspersky from providing antivirus or cybersecurity solutions to anyone in the United States. The sweeping ban was the first of its kind issued by the BIS after expanded powers were granted by the last two presidents of the United States.

The U.S. also placed Kaspersky Lab and its U.K. holding company on the Entity List, cutting them off from any U.S. trade entirely. The next day, twelve members of Kaspersky Lab’s board of executives and leadership were individually sanctioned, with most of Kaspersky Lab’s C-suite receiving individual punishment for their association with Kaspersky and suspected association with the Russian government.

CEO and founder Eugene Kaspersky was excluded from this round of sanctions. At the moment, he is only included in the sanctions lists of Ukraine as responsible for the annexation of Crimea, as well as due to suspicions of corrupt ties with representatives of the Russian special services and espionage in the interests of the FSB. In addition, Kaspersky is under Polish sanctions for indirectly supporting aggression against Ukraine.

The US authorities stated that the company posed a threat to the country's security, saying that the Russian authorities could gain access to US government documents through the software of this company. Kaspersky Lab itself denied the accusations, saying that none of its management had ever had "inappropriate ties" with any government.