WASHINGTON — Computer systems at 15 per cent of U.S. government agencies were running Kaspersky Lab software that’s been banned because of concerns about the company’s ties to the Kremlin and Russian spy operations, a top Homeland Security Department official told Congress on Tuesday. In September, the Homeland Security Department directed all U.S. federal agencies and departments to stop using products or services supplied directly or indirectly by the Russian-owned and operated company. “Out of all the federal agencies, a small number have identified the use or presence, in some aspect of their systems, of Kaspersky-branded products — about 15 per cent of agencies that have reported,” she said. The chief executive of the software company, Eugene Kaspersky, is a mathematical engineer who attended a KGB-sponsored school and once worked for the Defence Ministry. At a Senate intelligence committee hearing in May, top U.S. officials were asked whether they would be comfortable with Kaspersky software on their computers.

Source: National Post November 14, 2017 23:33 UTC