June 22, 2024 at 02:18AM
The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) imposed sanctions on 12 senior leaders of Kaspersky Lab after the company was banned by the Commerce Department over national security concerns. The sanctions do not extend to the company itself or its founder. Russia has criticized the ban as a move to stifle foreign competition.
From the meeting notes on June 22, 2024, it’s clear that the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) imposed sanctions against a number of individuals in executive and senior leadership positions at Kaspersky Lab. These sanctions were initiated following the ban imposed by the Commerce Department on the Russian company. The move came in response to concerns about protecting the integrity of the cyber domain and safeguarding citizens against malicious cyber threats. It’s worth noting that the sanctions did not extend to Kaspersky Lab, its parent or subsidiary companies, nor the company’s founder and CEO, Eugene Kaspersky. The meeting notes also mentioned the actions taken by the Commerce Department to prohibit Kaspersky from providing its software and other security services in the U.S. from July 20, 2024, citing national security concerns. The company has also been placed on the Entity List. Additionally, Russia has responded to the sales ban on Kaspersky software by suggesting that it was a move to stifle foreign competition with American products, while Kaspersky has asserted that it has no links to the Russian government.