Kaspersky Lab Closing US Division, Laying Off Workers After Ban

Russian cybersecurity firm, Kaspersky Lab, has told workers in its U.S.-based division that they are being laid off this week and that it is closing its U.S. business, Zero Day reported Monday, citing sources. From a report: The sudden move comes after the U.S. Commerce Department announced last month that it was banning the sale of Kaspersky software in the U.S. beginning July 20. The company has been selling its software here since 2005. Kaspersky confirmed the news to Zero Day, saying that beginning July 20 it will "gradually wind down" its U.S. operations and eliminate U.S.-based positions as a result of the new ban, despite initially vowing to fight the ban in court.

sudden move?

[ole_timer]

...no one saw that coming...

No way!

[FictionPimp]

I figured they would just keep paying to have an office full of Americans in a country they can't operate in.

Insufficient revenue to justify a legal fight?

[misnohmer]

Perhaps they figured their current revenue stream from US was too small, and would definitely be further decimated by any bans even if eventually reversed.

Re:

[drew_92123]

Unlikely, they aren't a billion dollar company, but they aren't exactly poor either... according to their own site they had revenue of $721M in 2023.

I think it's more likely they chose to go quietly rather than chance the feds deciding to go after them for sending data back to Russia... including potentially sensitive data.. which makes the ban more of a courtesy, a way for them to GTFO without dragging their US employees through the mud in court.

But... I could be wrong...

Re: Insufficient revenue to justify a legal fight?

[50000BTU_barbecue]

Or you could be an unhinged fact-free chemtrailer.

Re:

[immanentize]

TFA mentions Kaspersky themselves reported $721M revenue the rest of it is couched in 'i think' and 'i could be wrong'

Re: Wait for President Trump

[50000BTU_barbecue]

Right, that's the sign of a healthy democracy exporting its wonderful values to the world by the beauty of its weapons.

Re:

[mmell]

Well, we are the premier manufacturer and supplier of bullets for Our Side, right? The US is the Arsenal of Freedom, isn't it?

Good riddance

[RUs1729]

Spy on Putin.

Re: Good riddance

[50000BTU_barbecue]

Make less sense, I dare you.

Israel is a bigger risk

[Anonymous Coward]

Any foreign controlled software can effectively backdoor or exfiltrate data. Israeli Cybersecurity vendors are a far greater risk than Kaspersky. So many of them are run by former IDF/Unit 8200. Like there's no such thing as former CIA, there's no such thing as former IDF. I work for one of these vendors and see the risks every day, and only growing with cloud adoption/dependence.

The US gov would be extremely wise to proactively require divestment all security tools particularly from Israel, especially given the geopolitical tensions and our dependence on many of these vendors in the most critical of industries.