Bloomberg Law
Nov. 30, 2018, 5:31 PM UTCUpdated: Nov. 30, 2018, 8:01 PM UTC

Kaspersky Contract Ban Over Russian Spying Risks OK (1)

Daniel Seiden
Daniel Seiden
Reporter/Editor

Kaspersky Lab Inc. failed to convince an appeals court to vacate Congress’s government-wide ban on its software and cybersecurity products because of Russian spying concerns.

The National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2018 (P.L. 115-91) officially prohibited government use of Kaspersky products on Oct. 1.

The law isn’t an unconstitutional bill of attainder because it addresses a national security vulnerability in the federal government’s information systems, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit affirmed Nov. 30.

A bill of attainder is a legislative punishment without trial and prohibited by the U.S. Constitution.

The ban is a reasonable response ...

Learn more about Bloomberg Law or Log In to keep reading:

Learn About Bloomberg Law

AI-powered legal analytics, workflow tools and premium legal & business news.

Already a subscriber?

Log in to keep reading or access research tools.