all its employees in the country will be fired
About a month ago, the Joe Biden administration announced Kaspersky Banned in the USWhile the Russian cybersecurity company initially tried to challenge the measure, there is now confirmation that it will finally leave the US market.
The closure of Kaspersky’s operations in the North American country will be gradual. As CNN explains, the company says it “carefully reviewed and assessed the impact of U.S. legal requirements” and concluded that “business opportunities in the country are no longer viable.”
50 employees will be laid off
When the ban was announced on June 20, it was not clear what impact it would have on Kaspersky. He set July 20 as a deadline for selling software products, although it fell short of other revenue sources, such as the ability to offer cyber threat intelligence training.
It is now clear that the firm will cease operations in the United States in about two decades. Specifically, this applies to Kaspersky North America, a subsidiary founded in 2004 that has offices in Massachusetts and is dependent on its parent company, Kaspersky Labs Limited, based in the United Kingdom, which in turn is linked to its headquarters in Moscow.
The Register reports that the layoffs of 50 staff will be phased in, starting later this week. Kaspersky now says it will remain committed to the cybersecurity world but will invest in other strategic markets.
The US Department of Commerce is behind this ban, which researched Kaspersky for a long time and even held a number of conversations with the company on security issues.
According to the injunction, Kaspersky proposed changing its corporate structure rather than divesting itself of its parent company in Russia. This did not convince authorities, who noted that Kaspersky’s activities would still be governed by Russian law, which requires its companies to cooperate with intelligence agencies. The US said this created “unjustified or unacceptable” risks.
“Russia has demonstrated that it has the ability and the intent to use Russian companies like Kaspersky to collect and use personal information as a weapon Americans,” Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said after the ban was announced.
Despite this measure, Kaspersky is considered one of the most renowned companies in the security field. The firm has won several awards, including “Product of the Year” from AV-Comparatives. Its researchers, for their part, also have a good reputation for uncovering cybercriminal operations around the world.
Images | Paul Weaver | Kaspersky
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