If the United States government doesn't believe that Kaspersky anti-virus products aren't tied to the Russian government, then Eugene Kaspersky says he's ready to have his source code analyzed.
This will, he hopes, end decades of rumors that his software is operating from within the confines of the Kremlin.
“We stay on the bright side. And never, never go to the dark side," Kaspersky said during an interview with the Associated Press in Moscow on Saturday.
Not only is he willing to have his company's source code analyzed by the FBI, Kaspersky says he's also willing to testify before U.S. lawmakers.
“Unfortunately, now the links to the FBI are completely ruined,” he said during the AP interview. “It means that if some serious crime happens that needs Russian law enforcement to cooperate with FBI, unfortunately it’s not possible.”
This statement comes during a time when the Senate has already proposed outlawing the use of Kaspersky products by the Department of Defense. Which was discussed after the FBI visited the homes of multiple Kaspersky employees, as reported by NBC.
In a statement issued by the company, the cybersecurity firms says it "has no ties to any government, and the company has never helped, nor will help, any government in the world with its cyberespionage efforts. The company has a 20-year history in the IT security industry of always abiding by the highest ethical business practices, and Kaspersky Lab believes it is completely unacceptable that the company is being unjustly accused without any hard evidence to back up these false allegations."
"The company ardently believes a deeper examination of Kaspersky Lab will confirm that these allegations are unfounded," the statement continues.
In a blog post from Eugene Kaspersky, he asks the question, "For some reason the assumption continues to resonate that since we’re Russian, we must also be tied to the Russian government. But really, as a global company, does anyone seriously think we could survive this long if we were a pawn of ANY government? Our whole business is based on one thing—besides expertise—and that’s trust. Would we really risk our whole business by undermining our trustworthiness?"
A valid question.
