The US government’s unprecedented ban on Kaspersky software has left American companies that are official resellers or managed service provider (MSP) partners in a state of confusion, anger, and worry. The ban, announced just days ago, prohibits the sale of Kaspersky software in the US due to concerns over cybersecurity and privacy risks posed by the Russian-headquartered company.
Kaspersky’s top executives were also sanctioned, effectively blocking US businesses and customers from paying for the software starting July 20. Existing customers will be able to receive security updates until September 29, after which the updates will cease and Kaspersky’s software will become less effective.
Several MSP partners, who spoke to Truth Voices, criticized the ban, citing the difficulties it will cause for their businesses. Avi Fleischer, founder of Technical Difficulties, said the ban is “annoying” because he will have to find a new antivirus company and migrate all his customers, which will cost him time and money.
Fleischer’s company has between 300 and 400 customer endpoints running Kaspersky software, and he will have to manually configure the new software to ensure it doesn’t break other programs. He previously migrated his customers from a different antivirus to Kaspersky, a process that took two months.
Danny Falin, president of Georgia IT Consulting, called the ban a “burden” on his company, customers, and other MSP services, and said it’s a “political” decision by the Biden administration that will harm Americans. Falin’s company will continue to use Kaspersky as long as possible, citing its effectiveness and lower cost compared to other antivirus companies.
William Finnigan, owner of Office Smith, expressed concerns about the ban’s impact on his clients, who will have to stop using Kaspersky. He is trying to determine who will refund his clients and what costs will result from the ban.
Adkins IT Solutions, another MSP partner, called the ban “complete bulls—t” and said they have been forced to discontinue their partnership with Kaspersky against their will. The company plans to offer Kaspersky competitors to its clients and will assess the financial impact based on the pricing of those competitors.
The number of Kaspersky users in the US is unclear, as the company doesn’t provide country-specific numbers. However, on its official website, Kaspersky claims to have over 400 million individual customers and over 240,000 corporate customers worldwide.
