12/18/2017

CYBERWAR/DHS/LEGAL/RUSSIA: “Russian cybersecurity firm Kaspersky Lab filed suit against the U.S. government on Monday [12-18-17], demanding that the Department of Homeland Security rescind a ban on Kaspersky software in U.S. government computers.
Kaspersky’s complaint, filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, alleges that DHS deprived the cybersecurity firm’s due process rights under the Constitution by failing to give the company a meaningful chance to challenge the directive before it was issued.
DHS on Sept. 13 ordered federal agencies to remove Kaspersky products from computers out of concern about Russian government interference. DHS expressed concerns about alleged ties between Kaspersky corporate officials and Russian intelligence, and said the company’s antivirus products enjoyed broad access to files on computers that malicious cyber actors could exploit…
The computer antivirus company claims in its suit that the directive represented an arbitrary and capricious abuse of agency power because its claims weren’t backed by substantial evidence beyond news stories based on anonymous sources.”

-Paul Sonne, “Kaspersky Sues U.S. Over Order to Remove Its Anti-Virus Software,” The Wall Street Journal online, Dec. 18, 2017 06:42pm