'No,' said National Security Agency Director Admiral Mike Rogers. 'A resounding no from me,' replied Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats. 'To each of our witnesses I would just ask, would any of you be comfortable with a Kaspersky Lab software on your computers?' 'Kaspersky Lab software is used by, if not hundreds of thousands, millions of Americans,' Florida Republican Marco Rubio told the spy chiefs.

At a May Senate Intelligence Committee hearing, six intelligence agency chiefs seated at the witness table got put on the spot about Kaspersky. lawmakers have become increasingly wary of the Russian cybersecurity firm possibly doing the will of the Kremlin. military would be barred from owning or using any products made by Kaspersky. (Kaspersky Lab is also among NPR's financial supporters.)īut should legislation recently approved by both the House and Senate Armed Services Committees become law, the U.S. So do many state and local government entities. The Federal Bureau of Prisons confirms to NPR that it uses the company's products. Other than vodka, the Russian product most familiar to Americans is probably the anti-virus software made by Moscow-based Kaspersky Lab.īest Buy loads some of the computers it sells with Kaspersky Lab software. Kaspersky and his firm have ties to the Russian government but say that should not be cause for concern in the West, where the company's cybersecurity software is widely used.Īlexander Zemlianichenko Jr./Bloomberg via Getty Images Eugene Kaspersky, founder and chief executive officer of Kaspersky Lab, at his office in Moscow last December.

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