US FCC Added Russian Kaspersky, Chinese Telecommunications Company To National Security Threat List

Washington, March 25 -Federal Communications Commission (FCC) communicates Russia’s AO Kaspersky Lab, China Telecom (USA) Corporation (0728.HK), China Mobile International USA (0941.HK) on Friday. Added to the list of. And service providers saw it as a threat to US national security.

Last year, regulators designated five Chinese companies, including Huawei Technologies Co (HWT.UL) and ZTE Corp (000063.SZ), as the first companies on the list required by 2019 law. Kaspersky Lab is the first Russian company listed.

FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr said the new designation “protects our network from threats posed by Chinese and Russian state support groups engaged in espionage and otherwise trying to harm the interests of the United States. Will help. “

U.S. officials have long stated that running Kaspersky software could allow the U.S. network to abuse activities from Moscow, and in 2017 banned Kaspersky’s flagship antivirus product from the federal network. Moscow-based Kaspersky has consistently denied that it is a tool of the Russian government.

In Kaspersky’s naming, the FCC’s announcement does not cite a recent warning by President Joe Biden about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the possibility of a Russian cyberattack in response to U.S. sanctions and Ukraine’s support. It was.

Kaspersky said in a statement that he was disappointed with the FCC’s decision, claiming that it was “done on political grounds.” The move is “unfounded, not a comprehensive assessment of Kaspersky Lab’s product and service integrity, but a response to the geopolitical climate,” the company said.

The Chinese embassy in Washington said on Friday that the FCC “abused state power and maliciously attacked Chinese carriers again without fact. The United States should immediately stop the unjustified oppression of Chinese companies.” Said.

“China will take the necessary steps to resolutely protect the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies,” he added.

Chinese companies didn’t comment immediately.

In October, the FCC revoked US approval for China Telecom (Americas) and stated that it was “subject to exploitation, impact, and control by the Chinese government.” [nL1N2RM1QE]

The FCC quoted in its previous decision to deny or revoke the ability of Chinese telecommunications companies to do business in the United States in its decision to add to the threat list.

The FCC has also revoked the US license of China Unicom (0762.HK) and Pacific Networks and its wholly owned subsidiary Comnet.

In 2019, the FCC rejected China Mobile’s bid to provide US telecommunications services because of national security risks.

Being included in the Coverage List means that funds from the FCC’s $ 8 billion Universal Service Fund per year cannot be used to purchase or maintain products from companies. The fund supports telecommunications in rural areas, low-income consumers, and facilities such as schools, libraries, and hospitals.

Last year, the FCC also nominated Hytera Communications (002583.SZ), Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology (002415.SZ) and Dahua Technology (002236.SZ) as security threats.

FCC Chair Jessica Rosenwessel said the agency will work closely with the US National Security Agency to update the list and add companies as needed.

Report by David Shepherdson and edited by Rafael Satter by Jonathan Oatis, Cynthia Osterman and Leslie Adler

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