Edit: David is so sleepy
Recently, the United States put a Russian company and two Chinese companies on the telecommunications "blacklist" on the grounds of the so-called "threat to national security". So far, the list of companies has been expanded to 8.
At the time of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, the United States took the opportunity to expand the scope of sanctions again.
On March 25, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) added Russia's AO Kaspersky Lab, China Telecom Americas corporation, and China Mobile Communications International (USA) Co., Ltd. to the "National Security Threat List."
Among them, Kaspersky is the first Russian company to enter the list, and the only non-Chinese company.
FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel said the FCC works closely with U.S. national security agencies and will add other companies to the list if necessary.
On the same day, Trade Representative Katherine Tai said in an interview that the United States would "more aggressively" pressure China and would no longer "sit still." According to insiders, this could mean a new round of trade investigations.
Five years later, Kaspersky was "blackmailed" by the United States.
In response to the FCC's actions, Kaspersky said in a statement that he was "disappointed" by the FCC's actions, calling the decision "a response based on a geopolitical environment rather than a comprehensive assessment of the integrity of Kaspersky's products and services."
The statement also said, "Kaspersky will continue to guarantee the quality and integrity of its products to its partners and customers."
In fact, this is not the first time that Kaspersky has been "blocked" by the United States, but the previous scope is not as large as this time.
Back in December 2017, then-U.S. President Donald Trump signed a bill banning the use of Kaspersky Lab software within the U.S. government.
The bill is an enhancement to a mandatory action directive issued in September 2017. The Directive requires all government agencies to identify Kaspersky products used in their information systems within 30 days, to develop a detailed removal plan within 60 days and to remove these products within 90 days. The new bill applies to both civilian and military cyber systems.
As for the source of this blockade, it is the so-called "espionage incident" reported by Kaspersky in the United States media.
According to the Wall Street Journal and other media reports, in 2015, Russian hackers used Kaspersky's software to target a contractor working for the National Security Agency (NSA), who transferred confidential information from his workplace to a computer running Kaspersky Antivirus in his home.
The hackers stole highly classified information about how the N.S.A. spied and protected the country from other countries, people familiar with the matter said.
However, according to the incident report released by Kaspersky, the NSA contractor had Kaspersky Internet Security installed on the computer, and was intercepted by Kaspersky Alarm after the activation tool carrying the virus was downloaded. Kaspersky's built-in cloud analytics tool uploaded confidential information and activation tools to the cloud for analysis, eventually leading to the discovery of confidential information in the United States.
Kaspersky said the reason for this was that NSA employees used pirated Office software and used illegal registration number generators with malicious code when installing pirated software, causing the virus interception system to alarm and scan user files.
Kaspersky founder Eugene Kaspersky said: "Users downloaded malware while installing pirated Microsoft Offices before scanning machines with confidential software for viruses."
The N.S.A. contractor employee was arrested by U.S. police for serious violations of confidentiality agreements and work norms and was later sentenced to 5.5 years in prison by a court.
In the face of the U.S. ban, Kaspersky has repeatedly denied any ties to any government and said it would not help the government in its cyber espionage activities.
Kaspersky was eventually added to the FCC's threat list. Sometimes, disputes and problems provoked by technology are not technical problems.
The "authorization" has long been cancelled, or there is no such thing
As early as May 9, 2019, the FCC rejected China Mobile's application to provide a telecommunications network for the United States on the grounds of "threatening national security".
In March 2021, the FCC identified five Chinese companies that "pose a threat" to U.S. national security. These include Huawei, ZTE, Hytera, Hikvision and Zhejiang Dahua.
In June 2021, the FCC proposed banning approval of equipment from these companies in U.S. telecommunications networks and revoking previously issued authorizations.
Subsequently, in October 2021, the FCC revoked the service operation authorization for China Telecom (Americas).
At the same time, it also ordered China Telecom's U.S. subsidiaries to cease any domestic or international telecommunications services in the U.S. by January 3, 2022.
Although it has not yet been included in the "threat list", other Chinese telecommunications companies are also difficult to sanction.
On March 16, 2022, the FCC revoked its authorization to provide U.S. telecommunications services to Pacific Networks and its wholly owned subsidiary, ComNet.
The FCC's updated Checklist is based on the relevant provisions of the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act 2019.
The Bill stipulates that if a communications equipment or service enterprise meets the following conditions, it will be identified as a "threat" and listed.
1. The equipment produced or services provided by the enterprise pose an unacceptable risk to the national security of the United States or the safety and security of the United States.
2. Poses an unacceptable risk to national security or the safety and security of Americans in the following ways, including:
(A) Where User Data Traffic is redirected and routed, User Data or Packets transmitted by devices and services or otherwise processed are visible
(B) Causing the network of the advanced communication service provider to be remotely damaged
(C) Otherwise posing a threat to national security
Thus, after this expansion, there are 8 companies on the FCC's "threat list", and in addition to Kaspersky, the other 7 are Chinese companies.
Among them, Huawei, ZTE, Hikvision, Dahua and Hytera were included in the list on March 12 last year, more than a year ago.
Resources:
https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/us-fcc-adds-ao-kaspersky-lab-china-telecom-firms-national-security-threat-list-2022-03-25/