In June the US government deemed the popular anti-virus software Kaspersky, which is used by millions of users around the world, a prohibited software as it was found to be a risk to national security.
In March 2022, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) ruled that Kaspersky posed an "unacceptable risk to national security" due to its ties to the Russian government, which Kaspersky irrefutably denied. The anti-virus company denied having ties to any government and acts as an independent multinational company. Additionally, Kaspersky said the decision to ban its products across the United States was a purely political move.
The banning of Kaspersky by the Department of Homeland Security alleged the company has ties to the Russian government, presumably some kind of backdoor within its software that allows the Russian government access to devices running the Kaspersky software. Kaspersky responded by offering to reveal its source code to third parties for verification.
Now, Kaspersky has proposed to the US government a "comprehensive assessment framework providing for the verification of its solutions, database updates, threat detection rules by an independent trusted reviewer." Kaspersky believes passing an independent review of its systems would clear it of its name and alleged association with the Kremlin, but the Department of Commerce didn't see it that way.
"Kaspersky maintains that the US Department of Commerce decision was based on the geopolitical climate rather than on the evaluation of the integrity of the company's solutions and deprives US users and companies of best-in-class protection," the statement said