The emails purported to show that the company “developed security technology at the spy agency’s behest” and worked on joint projects with the FSB that Kaspersky Lab’s CEO “knew would be embarrassing if made public.”
The company and one of its founders and leading shareholders, Eugene Kaspersky, strongly denied the allegations.
Two months after the Trump administration removed Kaspersky Lab from the list of state agencies’ software vendors, saying its products could be used to carry out “nefarious activities against the United States,” the U.S. Senate is reportedly gearing up to legislate a government-wide ban on Kaspersky products.
The private sector followed soon after, with the United States’ largest electronic retailer Best Buy announcing it will stop selling Kaspersky Lab’s products at its stores.
The U.S. and Canada generate nearly a quarter of Kaspersky Lab’s earnings, exceeding $600 million in 2016, according to the Bell.
The cyber-security firm suggested that Western media could be publishing damaging reports as payback for Kaspersky’s revelation in early 2015 that U.S. spy agencies were carrying out cyber-espionage and attacks around the world.
