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A day after banning sales of Kaspersky products in the US, the White House is also sanctioning 12 company executives with the Moscow-based antivirus provider.On Friday, the US Treasury Department announced the sanctions, which target Kaspersky’s chief operating officer, deputy CEO of strategy, and chief legal officer, among other senior leaders. However, the Treasury Department didn’t flag what the executives specifically did wrong. Instead, it said the sanctions were part of the Commerce Department’s ban outlawing new sales of Kaspersky antivirus products in the US over concerns the Russian government will exploit or influence the company for malicious purposes. Specifically, the Commerce Department found that installing Kaspersky software allegedly risks creating ways for the Kremlin to hack US computers and to collect data from consumers and businesses. On Friday, the Treasury Department reiterated the same concerns in announcing the sanctions against the 12 Kaspersky executives. “The United States will take action where necessary to hold accountable those who would seek to facilitate or otherwise enable these activities,” the department added. The sanctions will prevent US persons and businesses, especially banks, from making transactions with any of the 12 executives. But surprisingly, Treasury officials refrained from sanctioning Kaspersky the company, its subsidiaries, along with CEO and founder Eugene Kaspersky. The Treasury Department didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Kaspersky also didn’t directly comment on the new sanctions. Instead, the Russian company re-sent PCMag an earlier statement criticizing the Commerce Department’s decision to ban Kaspersky antivirus sales in the US.
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“Kaspersky believes that the Department of Commerce made its decision based on the present geopolitical climate and theoretical concerns, rather than on a comprehensive evaluation of the integrity of Kaspersky’s products and services,” the company said. Kaspersky does not engage in activities which threaten US national security and, in fact, has made significant contributions with its reporting and protection from a variety of threat actors that targeted US interests and allies.”Despite the ban, the statement added that Kaspersky “intends to pursue all legally available options to preserve its current operations and relationships.”
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