Security software maker Kaspersky Lab has lodged an appeal before a US federal court against a Trump administration ban on use of its products in government networks, reports Reuters. The US administration issued a directive in September ordering civilian government agencies to remove Kaspersky software from their networks within 90 days due to concern among that the software could enable Russian espionage and threaten national security, allegations the Moscow-based firm has repeatedly denied.
The grounds of the complaints state that the government relied above all on uncorroborated news media reports as evidence in a review of Kaspersky software. It asks the court to overturn the ban and also declare that the Russian company’s products do not pose a security threat to US government computers.
The lawsuit adds that although the value of Kaspersky’s software sales to the US government totalled just 0.03 percent of its US subsidiary’s sales the allegations of cyber espionage have hurt its much bigger consumer software business, prompting retailers such as Best Buy Co to pull Kaspersky products.
The legislation that bans the use of Kaspersky Lab products within the US government was signed into law by US President Donald Trump last week.
