The move, which is being finalized and could happen as soon as this month, would use relatively new Commerce Department authorities built on executive orders signed by Presidents Joe Biden and Donald Trump to prohibit Kaspersky Lab from providing certain products and services in the US, the sources said. US government agencies are already banned from using Kaspersky Lab software but action to prevent private companies from using the software would be unprecedented.
The Wall Street Journal reported last year that Commerce was weighing using its authorities to restrict use of Kaspersky Lab software, but that no decision had been made to do so. But after months of deliberating on how to effectively to use the Commerce Department’s regulatory powers against the use of Kaspersky Lab software, US officials are finally preparing to use the authorities, a US official familiar with the private discussions told CNN.