Despite the ban on Kaspersky products in the US, some organizations , including 19 government agencies, continue to actively use them .
An analysis by Bitsight found that 40% of US organizations that were using Kaspersky products before the ban took effect on September 29, 2024, appear to still be using them.
This situation shows that policymakers need to find more effective methods of controlling the use of technology within their borders.
To compile this report, Bitsight observed connections/communications between global IP addresses attributed to specific organizations and Kaspersky update servers.
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Significant drop in the use of Kaspersky products
Despite the fact that some organizations still use Kaspersky products, the research found that the ban had a significant impact on the global use of the Russian company's products.
In April 2024, Bitsight recorded nearly 22,000 global organizations and over seven million unique IP addresses communicating with Kaspersky update servers. A follow-up at the end of November showed approximately 8,000 global organizations and two million unique IP addresses.
It is worth noting that the rate at which the use of Kaspersky products decreased between April and November was faster in some countries (even without outright bans being enacted). These include Germany (down 69%), the United Kingdom (70%), and Italy (65%).
In March 2022, Germany's Federal Office for Information Security, BSI, hadalso warned companies not to use Russian Kaspersky's antivirus products, due to Russian threats against the EU, NATO and Germany.
As BSI had explained, antivirus software typically has higher-level privileges on Windows systems, maintaining a permanent, encrypted and unverifiable connection to the vendor's servers for continuous virus updates.
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Bitsight wrote: “The US government’s announcement of the Kaspersky ban has clearly impacted the global use of Kaspersky products, both in the US and internationally. But the data reveals a more complex story. On the one hand, the ban does not appear to have completely eliminated Kaspersky use in the US by the deadline.”
The company added: "Also of interest is the impact of the US ban on the use of Kaspersky in other countries, even in locations that had previously announced their own restrictions and warnings."
This ban is due to US national security concerns, due to the company's alleged ties to the Russian regime.
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Gina Raimondo of the Commerce Department said of the decision to ban: “Russia has repeatedly demonstrated its ability and intent to exploit Russian companies, like Kaspersky Lab, to collect sensitive U.S. intelligence. We will continue to use every tool at our disposal to protect U.S. national security and the American people.”
Kaspersky denied any ties to the Russian government and initially wanted to challenge the ban. However, in July the company announced it would end its business operations in the US.
Source: www.infosecurity-magazine.com
