A federal judge on Wednesday dismissed two lawsuits from Russian software company Kaspersky challenging a ban on its products from being used on federal networks.
The decision upholds the ban first placed by the Department of Homeland Security last September (Defense Daily, Sept. 13) and also formally included in Congress’ FY ‘18 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
DHS officials and lawmakers have raised concerns that the Moscow-based company’s anti-virus products could be used as backdoors to collect sensitive government information and then shared with Russian intelligence officials under the country’s communication laws.
Kaspersky initially filed its challenge to the DHS ban in December 2017 (Defense Daily, Dec. 18).
The federal judge’s decision argued that the congressional ban in the NDAA is fair as it protects a national security interest, which ultimately allows the DHS directive to remove Kaspersky products in place.