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In June 2017, the Pentagon-related Kaspersky restriction was still a proposal—not an enacted ban. Cybersecurity professional Jake Williams called it “a purely political move,” while other security experts questioned whether the public evidence justified a prohibition. Congress later restricted Kaspersky use across the U.S. federal government, effective October 1, 2018. A separate Commerce Department determination in 2024 reached specified transactions involving U.S. customers and services. Those later actions should not be conflated with the proposal described in CyberScoop’s original report.
What did CyberScoop report in 2017?
Patrick Howell O’Neill’s CyberScoop report, published June 30, 2017, covered a proposed restriction on Kaspersky products in the Senate’s fiscal 2018 defense authorization bill. The proposal arose amid concern in Washington about Kaspersky Lab’s Russian origins and the possibility that the company could be influenced by the Russian government.
Williams, founder of Rendition Infosec, described the proposal as “a purely political move.” That was his assessment, not an official finding that the proposal had been politically motivated. The report also included competing views: former GCHQ information security specialist Matt Tait said that, without evidence of collusion, it was difficult to determine the responsible course of action.
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Why was the proposal controversial?
The dispute involved both national-security risk and the strength of the evidence available publicly. Critics questioned whether a government restriction was justified without publicly demonstrated collusion. Supporters were concerned that a Russian company might face pressure from its government or create a risk to sensitive systems.
Tait framed the issue as whether Kaspersky’s relationship with the Russian government extended beyond defending Russian infrastructure and helping the government understand malware to spying on Kaspersky customers for Russian intelligence. The distinction mattered: a company’s location and potential exposure to state pressure can inform a risk assessment, but do not by themselves prove that it spied on customers.
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Why a source-code audit did not settle the question
The 2017 report said Eugene Kaspersky had offered a source-code audit. Williams argued that “a code audit is not really the issue here”: reviewing source code at one point in time would not, by itself, establish that later compiled software or updates were safe. An audit can examine code and processes within its scope, but it cannot automatically answer every question about future builds, operations, or government influence.
What Kaspersky said
Kaspersky’s representative told CyberScoop that the company and its founder had no government ties and had never helped, and would not help, any government with cyber-espionage efforts. That was the company’s statement as reported in 2017, not an independently established conclusion.
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What happened after the 2017 proposal?
The restriction did not remain merely a proposal. Section 1634 of the fiscal 2018 National Defense Authorization Act barred federal departments, agencies, organizations, and other U.S. government elements from using covered Kaspersky hardware, software, or services. The provision took effect October 1, 2018. It addressed government use; it was not the same policy as a general prohibition on all U.S. customers. See Section 1634 in the Congressional Record.
How did the 2024 Commerce action differ?
On June 20, 2024, the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security announced a separate determination covering specified transactions involving Kaspersky Lab, Inc. and covered related entities. Commerce said its investigation found an unmitigable national-security risk, citing Russian government cyber capabilities and the potential for influence over Kaspersky’s operations. That is the agency’s stated rationale, not a finding attributed to the 2017 CyberScoop article.
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Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said Russia had the capability and intent to exploit Russian companies such as Kaspersky to collect and weaponize sensitive U.S. information. Her statement accompanied the announcement; the formal determination and agency materials describe the prohibited activities and their scope. Read Commerce’s June 20, 2024 announcement.
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| Policy | Who or what it covered | Effective timing | Scope distinction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fiscal 2018 NDAA, Section 1634 | Federal departments, agencies, organizations, and other U.S. government elements using covered Kaspersky hardware, software, or services | October 1, 2018 | Restriction on U.S. government use |
| Commerce Department determination | Specified transactions involving Kaspersky cybersecurity and antivirus products or services in the United States or with U.S. persons | New agreements involving identified transactions barred from July 20, 2024; additional covered activities barred from September 29, 2024 | Separate action extending to specified U.S. transactions, not simply a continuation of the federal-use restriction |
The Commerce information page says that, after the transition period ended September 29, 2024, covered antivirus signature and codebase updates and Kaspersky Security Network operation in the United States or on a U.S. person’s IT system were prohibited. It also identifies restrictions on specified resale, integration, and licensing. The page lists certain purely informational or educational threat-intelligence, training, consulting, and advisory services outside the determination; whether a particular service or transaction qualifies depends on the agency’s terms. Review Commerce’s Kaspersky prohibition page.
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What does “purely political” mean in this context?
It is a quoted criticism of the 2017 proposal, not a description of the legal outcome or proof about the government’s motives. The proposal became a federal-use restriction in 2018, and Commerce made a distinct determination in 2024 based on the risk described by the agency. The chronology shows a change in policy scope; it does not retroactively turn Williams’s 2017 opinion into an official conclusion.
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