Russian company Kaspersky leaves the U.S.

Russian cybersecurity company Kaspersky, known for its antivirus, announced Tuesday it will pull out of the United States following sanctions against its executives last month and a ban on selling its software in the country.

"Effective July 20, 2024, Kaspersky will phase down its activities in the United States and eliminate U.S.-based jobs," the company said in a statement.

"The decision and process follows the final decision by the U.S. Department of Commerce to ban the sale and distribution of Kaspersky products in the United States," it added, indicating that business prospects "are no longer viable."

On June 20, the Commerce Department announced to the company that it will no longer be able to sell its software to the United States or to U.S. citizens in other parts of the world, nor provide updates to software already in use.

Washington justified this measure by the company's closeness to Russian authorities, an accusation that Kaspersky, one of the few Russian technology companies to have succeeded abroad, has always denied.

The U.S. also sanctioned 12 company executives.

The company, which claims to have some 400 million users, was founded in 1997 by Yevgeny Kaspersky, who studied computer science and cryptography at the KGB academy and also worked for the Russian defense ministry.