US puts AO Kaspersky Lab, 2 Chinese firms to national security threat list

The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) said on Friday (local time) that it is putting AO Kaspersky Lab and two Chinese companies on the list of equipment and services that have been deemed as a threat to national security.

"The Federal Communications Commission's Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau today added equipment and services from three entities - AO Kaspersky Lab, China Telecom (Americas) Corp, and China Mobile International USA Inc. - to its list of communications equipment and services that have been deemed a threat to national security, consistent with requirements in the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act of 2019," the FCC statement read .

Chairwoman of FCC, Jessica Rosenworcel said, "Last year, for the first time, the FCC published a list of communications equipment and services that pose an unacceptable risk to national security, and we have been working closely with our national security partners to review and update this list,".

"Today's action is the latest in the FCC's ongoing efforts, as part of the greater whole-of-government approach, to strengthen America's communications networks against national security threats, including examining the foreign ownership of telecommunications companies providing service in the United States and revoking the authorization to operate where necessary. Our work in this area continues," she added.

According to the FCC, The Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act requires the Commission to publish and maintain a list of communications equipment and services that pose an unacceptable risk to national security or the security and safety of U.S. persons. The FCC published the initial list, commonly referred to as the covered list, in March 2021, and will continue to update the list as other communications equipment and services meet the criteria under the law, it added.

( With inputs from ANI )

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