The Moscow-based security software maker Kaspersky Lab late on Monday requested that a U.S. federal court reverse the decision made by the Trump administration that banned the use of the products in government offices across the country, arguing that the decision denied the company due process.
Back in September. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) gave a nationwide directive ordering government agencies across the U.S to remove all Kaspersky software from their networks within three months. This decision came after the U.S government alleged that the security company provides Intel to Russian agents.
The appeal submitted by the company on Monday as part of their plan to disproof the allegations that the company is vulnerable to Kremlin influence. Kaspersky has come out to repeatedly deny any involvement with the Russian government, stating that it wouldn’t help any government commit cyber espionage.
The company’s founder, Eugene Kaspersky in an open letter to Homeland security on Monday stated that “DHS has harmed Kaspersky Lab’s reputation and its commercial operations without any evidence of wrongdoing by the company.”
When contacted, the DHS didn’t respond to comment requests.
The appeal by the company alleges that the U.S government did rely on some uncorroborated news media reports and used them as evidence against the company and their software. The company urged the court to overturn the ban on their products and declare that Kaspersky doesn’t pose any security threat to the government.
The total value of Kaspersky’s software sales to the U.S. government is less than $54,000, which represents 0.03% of their sales in the country. The allegations about their software have affected their software business, with retailers such as Best Buy Co pulling out of using their products.
In October, the company announced that it would submit the source code of its software and their future updates to U.S officials so that they can be inspected. The U.S officials acknowledged that the move was a welcomed one though it wasn’t enough.
The ban placed on their products by the DHS applies to only civilian government agencies and not the Pentagon. The U.S intelligence announced earlier this year that the Russian based company’s products aren’t used on military networks.
