Kaspersky Lab filed a suit against the U.S. government in 2017, after Homeland Security banned government agencies from using the company's products.
Kaspersky said its due process rights were violated because it never had a chance to defend itself before the ban went into place.
A judge has rejected that argument and found in favor of the U.S. government, saying the company is still able to market its products but that doesn't mean the government has to buy them.
Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly ruled, "It eliminates a perceived risk to the nation's cybersecurity and, in so doing, has the secondary effect of foreclosing one small source of revenue for a large multinational corporation."
Her words may not be the last in this case. It appears there is more to come in this case.
Kaspersky Lab founder Eugene Kaspersky, known for defending his company's reputation on Twitter, responded to the decision this way:
"We disagree with the court decision. We will appeal."
And Kaspersky painted a broad brush stroke over what is at stake in this case. It's not just about damaging a private business, Kaspersky says. It is also about much larger things:
"Given the lack of evidence of wrongdoing by the company and the imputation of malicious cyber activity by nation-states to a private company, these decisions have broad implications for the global technology community. Policy prohibiting the U.S. Government's use of Kaspersky Lab products and services actually undermines the government's expressed goal of protecting federal systems from the most serious cyber threats."
You can see Kaspersky's full statement on the lawsuit here. And SecureWorld will let you know what happens next.
