More detail on why DHS banned Kaspersky

A pair of filings in Kaspersky Labs' ongoing battle with the U.S. government fills in some of the blanks.

 

A pair of filings in the Kaspersky Labs' ongoing legal battle with the U.S. government fills in some blanks regarding justification for the governmentwide ban on the company’s products.

On April 16, the U.S. government filed a motion to dismiss one of two lawsuits filed by Russian-based antivirus and cybersecurity firm. The government argued that because the 2017 Binding Operational Directive banning Kaspersky from federal networks was followed up by similar language in the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act, Kaspersky Lab does not have legal standing since "lifting the BOD would in no way affect its inability to obtain a federal contract."

Additionally, the company has argued that the Department of Homeland Security had an obligation to consult with them and provide a meaningful opportunity to rebut or mitigate the government’s concerns before issuing a ban. The government's motion argues that Kaspersky's claim "rests on the unsupportable assumption that it was entitled to due process before DHS took action" and notes that the Cybersecurity Act of 2015 gives the secretary of Homeland Security the ability to issue BODs in response to "a known or reasonably suspected information security threat, vulnerability, or incident" that threatens the IT security of a federal agency.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) announced legislation last week to clarify that the secretary of Homeland Security is not required to provide notice to private companies before issuing BODs.

Meanwhile, new filings in the case last week give some detail on the nature of U.S. objections to Kaspersky products. While media reports have detailed the role of Kaspersky Lab's antivirus program in the theft of classified information stored on the home computer of National Security Agency contractor Nghia Hoang Pho in 2015, a December 2017 memo does not mention the case or reference any redacted or classified information in its final justification.

Instead, DHS Assistant Secretary for the Office of Cybersecurity and Communications Jeanette Manfra claims that the potential threat posed by Kaspersky products alone, as well as their legal obligations under Russian law to assist the Federal Security Service on intelligence matters, pose a sufficient danger to federal networks.

The underlying evidence presented by DHS to Kaspersky Lab remains classified, but Manfra's memo sheds some new light on the department's concerns about personally identifiable user data automatically sent to Kaspersky servers. She cites language contained in the company’s 2013 and 2018 end-user license agreements for its anti-virus software and notes that in "a telling omission," the 2018 agreement no longer provides an assurance to users that the company will not process their personally identifiable information or combine it with other datasets.

The memo also claims that the agreement requires users – even those who decline to participate in the Kaspersky Security Network -- to automatically provide information about installed programs, detected threats and infections, checksums of processed objects, technical information about the user's computer as well as other devices connected to it and online activity.

Current EULA language on Kaspersky's website does say "if you do not wish to provide information to the Kaspersky Security Network service, you should not activate" it. Questions about the accuracy of the government's claim were sent to Kaspersky Lab’s U.S. press office, but the company said it needed to check with the company’s global team before responding.

In response to questions regarding the accuracy of the government’s claims, Kaspersky Lab sent a lengthy statement saying users retain control over the amount of data they share and have the freedom to reduce such data to the “absolute minimum that is essential for the product to function” such as database updates and product license expiry information. The company also claims data sent to Kaspersky is never attributed to specific individuals.

“Furthermore, data sent to Kaspersiy Lab is not attributed to a specific individual, as the information is used as aggregated statistics, on separated servers with strict policies regarding access rights,” the statement reads. “Analyzing data to strengthen protection capabilities is an industry best practice that is applied by several IT security vendors around the world.”

Note: This article was updated on May 4 with additional comment from Kaspersky Lab.

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.