Kaspersky Lab, the globally renowned antivirus software company, just saw its CEO say that he is willing to turn over the source code for Kaspersky products to U.S. authorities to prove that they haven’t been tampered with by the Russian government in any way.
CEO Eugene Kaspersky is eager to appease the American government, and is willing to break an unspoken law in software – never reveal proprietary source code. But the security company has been hit by political sludge originating in the Senate Intelligence Committee and its equivalent of the National Defense Authorization Act disbarring the use of the company’s products by the DoD.
Over the past weeks, the government has voiced its concerns over several issues, such as Eugene Kaspersky being schooled at a KGB-backed institution as a boy, and his subsequent service in Russian military intelligence.
Less than a week ago, the FBI “visited” some of the company’s employees to gain information on liaisons between Kaspersky Lab’s Russian corporate offices and its operations in the United States.
Globally, Kaspersky Lab only has about 6% market share of Windows-based systems, which themselves enjoy a market share of over 90%. However, its products are extensively deployed by government agencies in the United States, both at the state as well as federal levels.
Eugene Kaspersky has also offered to testify in Congress and put any questions to rest about his company’s practices and products, but willing to give up the company’s most valuable asset to scrutiny by U.S. authorities is obviously a last resort to defend its products from being boycotted by the American government simply because of its Russian connections.
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Source: Associated Press
