Cybersecurity

Russia Threatens Retaliation If Pentagon Bans Kaspersky Software

  • U.S. share of Russian state software is ‘huge,’ minister says
  • Foreign programs not always about data risk, Nikiforov says

Pentagon building

Source: AFP via Getty Images
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Russia may retaliate if the U.S. Congress bans the Department of Defense from using Kaspersky Lab’s cybersecurity software, Communications Minister Nikolay Nikiforov said.

Any “unilateral political sanctions” by the U.S. may prompt a response from Russia, whose government systems use “a huge proportion of American software and hardware solutions in the IT sphere, even in very sensitive areas,” Nikiforov said in an interview on Friday. He declined to identify U.S. software products that may be affected by any reciprocal sanctions.