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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - About 15 percent of U.S. federal agencies have …
About 15 percent of U.S. agencies detected Kaspersky software on networks: official
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November 14, 2017 / 8:26 AM / Updated 2 hours ago
About 15 percent of U.S. agencies detected Kaspersky software on networks: official
WASHINGTON
(Reuters) - About 15 percent of U.S. federal agencies have reported
some trace of Moscow-based Kaspersky Lab software on their systems, a
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) official told Congress on Tuesday.
Jeanette
Manfra, assistant secretary for cyber security at DHS, told a U.S.
House of Representatives panel that 94 percent of agencies had responded
to a directive ordering them to survey their networks to identify any
use of Kaspersky Lab products and to remove them.
But
Manfra said DHS did “not currently have conclusive evidence” that any
networks had been breached due to their use of Kaspersky Lab software.
The
administration of President Donald Trump ordered civilian U.S. agencies
in September to remove Kaspersky Lab from their networks, amid worries
the antivirus firm was vulnerable to Kremlin influence and that using
its anti-virus software could jeopardize national security.
The
decision represented a sharp response to what U.S. intelligence agencies
have described as a national security threat posed by Russia in
cyberspace, following an election yearmarred by allegations that Moscow
weaponized the internet in an attempt to influence its outcome.
Kaspersky
Lab has repeatedly denied the allegations, and Moscow has denied that
it sought to interfere in the 2016 presidential election.
The
September DHS order required civilian agencies to identify any use of
Kaspersky Lab products within 30 days and to discontinue their use
within 90 days.
Ninety-six of 102 federal
agencies have reported to DHS on whether they have found Kaspersky Lab
software on their networks, Manfra told the oversight subcommittee of
the House Science, Space and Technology Committee.
DHS
is working with the remaining six “very small” agencies to assess their
networks, Manfra said. She did not name the agencies that detected
Kaspersky Lab products or those that were still auditing their systems
but said the government was generally complying with the directive to
remove the software.
Some lawmakers expressed
agitation at why the U.S. government, having had suspicions about
Kaspersky Lab for years, did not move more quickly to purge its software
from their networks.
Manfra said she became
personally aware of concerns about the firm in 2014, and that while DHS
promptly took steps to remove software, other agencies may have lagged
in part because they did not have access to classified information.
The
company’s products generally appeared to land on U.S. government
networks through larger technology purchases that included Kaspersky Lab
products as pre-bundled software, making it more difficult to track,
according to Manfra and other officials who were testifying on Tuesday.
Kaspersky Lab has said previously that its footprint in the U.S. federal government market was minimal.
To
address suspicions, Kaspersky Lab said last month it would submit the
source code of its software and future updates for inspection by
independent parties. Manfra said such a step, while welcomed, would “not be sufficient” to address concerns the U.S. government has about Kaspersky Lab.
Editing by Bernadette Baum
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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