The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) imposed sanctions against a dozen individuals serving executive and senior leadership roles at Kaspersky Lab, a day after the Russian company was banned by the Commerce Department.
The move “underscores our commitment to ensure the integrity of our cyber domain and to protect our citizens against malicious cyber threats,” Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, Brian E. Nelson, said.
“The United States will take action where necessary to hold accountable those who would seek to facilitate or otherwise enable these activities.”
The sanctions, however, do not extend to Kaspersky Lab, its parent or subsidiary companies, nor the company’s founder and chief executive officer (CEO), Eugene Kaspersky, OFAC noted. The 12 C-suite and senior-level executives sanctioned are listed below -
The development follows actions by the Commerce Department prohibiting Kaspersky from providing its software and other security services in America starting July 20, 2024, citing national security concerns. The company has also been placed on the Entity List.
Russia has said the sales ban on Kaspersky software was a typical move by the U.S. to stifle foreign competition with American products. Kaspersky has maintained that it has no links to the Russian government.
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