No Western Sanctions Against Russia’s Kaspersky Lab Over Cyberattack Fears: Report

The United States and Europe are afraid to impose sanctions against Russian multinational cybersecurity and anti-virus provider Kaspersky Lab because they fear increase in cyberattacks.

This why there is no accord in the U.S. administration concerning restrictions against that company, The Wall Street Journal reported citing its sources on Wednesday. According to the sources, the White House’s National Security Council has postponed discussions of possible sanctions against Kaspersky Lab in the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

Kaspersky Lab is headquartered in Moscow and is operated by a holding company in the UK. It develops and sells antivirus, internet security, password management, endpoint security, and other cybersecurity products and services.

On Friday, the Federal Communications Commission of the U.S. added products of Russia’s Kaspersky Lab into its list of equipment and services that pose a security threat. Following it, the company said it was disappointed with the commission’s decision to ban the use of federal allowances to purchase Kaspersky Lab’s products and slammed it as politically motivated. According to Kaspersky Lab, it is ready to cooperate with U.S. government agencies and answer any questions from regulators.

After Moscow launched its “special military operation” in Ukraine, several western countries including the U.S., UK and other EU member states announced sanctions against Russia individuals and legal entities.

Kaspersky Lab’s software had about 400 million users in 2016 and has the largest market-share of cybersecurity software vendors in Europe. The company ranks fourth in the global ranking of antivirus vendors by revenue.

The Kaspersky Global Research and Analysis Team (GReAT) has led the discovery of sophisticated espionage platforms conducted by nations, such as Equation Group and the Stuxnet worm. Various covert government-sponsored cyber-espionage efforts were uncovered through their research. Kaspersky also publishes the annual Global IT Security Risks Survey. As of 2014, Kaspersky's research hubs analyze more than 350,000 malware samples per day.

Kaspersky has faced controversy over allegations that it has engaged with the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB)—ties which the company has actively denied.