Russia's Kaspersky Lab, 2 Chinese Suppliers Added to FCC 'Covered List'

The FCC expanded its list of "covered" equipment suppliers -- deemed to present security concerns -- adding three companies Friday, including Russian cybersecurity powerhouse Kaspersky Lab. The FCC has been scoping actions it could take in reaction to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine (see 2203180051). The others added are China Telecom (Americas) and China Mobile International. The FCC previously revoked China Telecom’s domestic and international authorities (see 2110260060). In May 2019, in a first shot at Chinese providers, commissioners voted 5-0 to deny China Mobile’s long-standing Section 214 application (see 1905090039). The FCC released its original list of five covered companies, including Huawei and ZTE, a year ago (see 2103120058). Kaspersky is the first non-Chinese company to make the list. “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,” said FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel Friday. This 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,” she said. None of the companies commented. The expansion of the list is “welcome news,” said Commissioner Brendan Carr: “I am pleased that our national security agencies agreed with my assessment that China Mobile and China Telecom appeared to meet the threshold necessary to add these entities to our list. Their addition, as well as Kaspersky Labs, will help secure our networks from threats posed by Chinese and Russian state-backed entities seeking to engage in espionage and otherwise harm America’s interests.” Kaspersky is a Moscow-based company that offers artificial intelligence-driven “protection against hackers and the latest viruses, ransomware and spyware,” according to its website. The company claims 400 million users worldwide. Germany’s Federal Office for Information Security warned against use of Kaspersky security products earlier this month, citing the danger of cyberattacks, according to Hackread. Adding the Russian company is likely only a start, emailed Tatyana Bolton, R Street Institute policy director-cybersecurity and emerging threats. “It sounds like exactly like the discussions the government had when the threat of China started to become the primary concern within the national security establishment,” she said: “If Russia doesn’t stop their unprovoked aggression, it seems highly likely that more Russian companies may join the list. Given that the number of Russian suppliers is fairly low, however, there is a limit to how effective this strategy is in constraining Russian behavior.”