In 2019, the United States passed a new law called the “Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act”, the purpose of which is to ensure the security of American communications. This allowed the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to create a list of companies whose activities do not comply with said law.
These for the most part are according to the FCC deemed to “pose an unacceptable risk to the national security of the United States or the safety and security of persons in the United States”. Kaspersky, which is a Russian company specializing in computer security, has just been added to this list along with Chinese structures such as China Mobile or China Telecom.
Kaspersky joins a list made up mainly of Chinese companies
The FCC list was first published in March 2021. At that time, only five companies were considered non-compliant with the new US communications law. These were Huawei, Hikvision, ZTE, Hytera and Dahua which are all Chinese.
A year later, the number of companies on the list almost doubled. Kaspersky is one of the few companies on the list that is not of Chinese origin. China Mobile and China Telecom, which were placed on the list at the same time as the Russian multinational, are two major Chinese companies operating in the communication sector.
To justify its decisions, the American commission has always indicated that the companies pinned down by the law had dangerous links with foreign governments. In the case of Kaspersky, the FCC highlighted an act taken by the US government in 2017.
Indeed, the US Department of Homeland Security had in September 2017 banned all federal systems from using security tools belonging to Kaspersky. The US department has found that the Russian company’s products are capable of posing “an unacceptable risk to the national security of the United States and its population”.
A decision which was also followed at the time by those other governments like that of France.
China once again denounces a purely political decision
In 2017, Kaspersky reacted to the announcement of the banning of its products by the US Department of Homeland Security. The multinational had protested against this measure which it deemed unfair. However, she has yet to comment on the FCC’s decision.
It is rather the Chinese who, through the voice of the Chinese Embassy, have stepped up to defend China Mobile and China Telecom. These two companies would also now pose unacceptable risks to the national security of the United States according to the FCC.
According to Archyde.com, the Chinese representation described the decision of the American commission as an abuse of power on the part of the United States. According to her, this measure has no basis. She later added that China will take necessary measures to “resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises.”
It should also be remembered that the FCC’s decision comes in a context where Russia and its interests in the world are facing a shower of sanctions from the West.
Source : PCMag