Government employees are still using Kaspersky despite the ban

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Kaspersky products have only seen a 58% decline in use in the US
The software was banned nearly 3 months ago
19 Government agencies still use the software

Kaspersky was banned in the US in September this year, but that hasn’t stopped workers from multiple government agencies from continuing to use Kaspersky products. New research from Bitsight has revealed that the Russia-based antivirus firm still has a surprising number of customers within the US government.

It's been nearly 3 months since Kaspersky products were banned from use in the US after national security concerns rose surrounding the Russian firm, despite consistent denials of any Kremlin influence from the organisation. However, research shows that 40% of government agencies are still using Kaspersky products.

In fact, so many users are still active that the US remains the firm’s largest customer, with 19 government agencies actively using the software. Kaspersky is no longer allowed to sell or update its antivirus software in the US, but this has only led to a 58% decline in the use of the products.

Unacceptable national security risk

Elsewhere, in countries like the UK, Italy, and Germany, warnings have been issued against the products, but no outright bans have been put in place. Despite this, Germany has seen a 69% decline in usage, so this has been arguably more effective.

Many Kaspersky customers had their antivirus products forcibly replaced with partner software UltraAV, meaning there has been a significant global decline in the use of the firm's software since the ban.

This isn’t the first time Kaspersky software has been found in use after the ban took effect, with some users reporting that they weren’t concerned about data theft and were unwilling to blindly trust the US government on this issue, with others simply unwilling to waste the money they had already spent.

If the trend continues, it looks likely that Kaspersky products will be virtually out of use in the future, but it may take a few months.

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Ellen has been writing for almost four years, with a focus on post-COVID policy whilst studying for BA Politics and International Relations at the University of Cardiff, followed by an MA in Political Communication. Before joining TechRadar Pro as a Junior Writer, she worked for Future Publishing’s MVC content team, working with merchants and retailers to upload content.