The District Court of Columbia in the United States rejected two lawsuits from Kaspersky Lab, which asked to lift the ban on the use of its products by US government agencies, according to the US base of justice.
"Kaspersky Lab" is disappointed with the decision and will appeal the decision of the court, said its representative. The company considers these bans as "the result of an unconstitutional decision-making process in US executive and legislative bodies," he explains.
One suit filed by the company against the US Department of Homeland Security (Department of Homeland Security, DHS). DHS issued a directive on September 13, 2017, which allowed US officials 90 days to remove the products of the Russian company from their networks. The agency explained its decision to the company's cooperation with Russian special services, as well as the requirements of Russian legislation, which, according to the ministry, allows Russian authorities to receive information from Kaspersky Lab.
At the beginning of 2017, general concern began with Russian cyberactivity against the US, explained in an explanatory memorandum to the court's decision: officials and members of the US Congress saw the threat that the products of Kaspersky Lab are used by state bodies. They believed that Russia could use products - in collusion with the company or even because of the ignorance of Kaspersky Lab, the document says.
The second lawsuit was filed by Kaspersky Lab later in the federal court in Washington. The company asked the court to repeal certain provisions of the law on national defense of the United States, adopted in December 2017. These provisions introduce a ban on the installation and use by federal agencies of the US products of Kaspersky Lab in 2018.
Even if the court revoked the DHS directive, said in the materials of the judgment, this would not protect the company from damage: the provisions of the law on the national defense of the USA, which prohibit the use of the products of the Laboratory, would still remain in force.
"Kaspersky Lab" tried to appeal the provisions of this law as providing for the use of punishment without trial, which is prohibited in the US, explains lawyer Nektorov, Saveliev & Partners Oleg Volkov. But the court disagreed with this and considered the law to be legitimate, he concludes.
In any case, the US does not do any significant harm to its company by its decision, the court decision says. First of all, it eliminates the risks to the nation's cybersecurity, and the fact that at the same time a large international company is deprived of a small source of income - again, it is stated in the court materials.
The revenue of Kaspersky Lab in North America declined by 8% in 2017, the company reported earlier. Then she refused to disclose the US share in total revenue for 2017 at the request of Vedomosti. Global revenue of "Laboratory" for the past year was $ 698 million - 8% more than in 2016, according to the company. In 2016, customers in the US accounted for about a quarter of all sales of Kaspersky Lab, over the past 12 years, the company invested in this market more than $ 500 million, and in 2016 - more than $ 65 million, the company explained in a lawsuit against DHS. On the products sold specifically to US government products the company earned in 2016 only $ 54,000 (0.03% of all sales).