WASHINGTON: The United States on Friday took a new stab at Russia’s cybersecurity industry, restricting trade with four information technology firms and two other entities over “aggressive and harmful” activities — including digital espionage — that Washington blames on the Russian government.
A Commerce Department posting said the six entities were sanctioned by the US Treasury Department in April, which targeted companies in the technology sector that support Russian intelligence services.
Their addition to the Commerce Department’s blacklist means US companies cannot sell to them without licenses, which are seldom granted.
The announcement follows April’s sanctions, which were aimed at punishing Moscow for hacking, interfering in last year’s US election, poisoning Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny and other alleged malign actions — allegations the Kremlin denies.
They come as the United States is responding to a drumbeat of digital intrusions blamed on Russian government-backed spies and a spate of increasingly disruptive ransomware outbreaks blamed on Russian cybercriminals.
The entities added to the blacklist are Aktsionernoe Obshchaestvo AST; Aktsionernoe Obshchestvo Pasit; Aktsionernoe Obshchestvo Pozitiv Teknolodzhiz, also known as JSC Positive Technologies; Federal State Autonomous Institution Military Innovative Technopolis Era; Federal State Autonomous Scientific Establishment Scientific Research Institute Specialized Security Computing Devices and Automation (SVA); and Obshchestvo S Ogranichennoi Otvetstvennostyu Neobit.
Era is a research center and technology park operated by the Russian Ministry of Defense; Pasit is an IT company that did research and development in support of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service’s malicious cyber operations; SVA is a Russian state-owned institution that also supported malicious cyber operations; and Russia-based IT security firms Neobit, AST and Positive Technologies have clients that include the Russian government, according to the United States.
Positive Technologies said the Commerce Department’s announcement had no new information and that the company engaged in the “ethical exchange of information with the professional information security community” and had never been involved with an attack on US infrastructure.
The other entities either did not immediately respond to requests for comment or could not be reached.
The restrictions against the Russian technology industry have been in the works for months. The same day that the Treasury sanctions were announced, then-Assistant Attorney General John Demers told reporters that officials were in the process of evaluating dozens of Russian companies for possible referral to the Commerce Department.
Demers said investigators would be looking at “a known connection between a particular company and the Russian intelligence services” as they evaluated whether a company was a risk. Non-Russian companies that had back office operations in Russia would also be examined, he said.
The United States adds entities to the Commerce Department’s trade blacklist that it says pose a risk to US national security or foreign policy interests.
Biden battles Russian hacking groups with restrictions on IT firms
https://arab.news/wtr5h
Biden battles Russian hacking groups with restrictions on IT firms
- US restricts trade with four IT firms over harmful activities, including digital espionage, which are reportedly linked to Russia
- This comes amidst a drumbeat of digital intrusions blamed on Russian government-backed spies and a spate of increasingly disruptive ransomware outbreaks
EU warns Meta it must open up WhatsApp to rival AI chatbots
- The EU executive on Monday told Meta to give rival chatbots access to WhatsApp after an antitrust probe found the US giant to be in breach of the bloc’s competition rules
BRUSSELS: The EU executive on Monday told Meta to give rival chatbots access to WhatsApp after an antitrust probe found the US giant to be in breach of the bloc’s competition rules.
The European Commission said a change in Meta’s terms had “effectively” barred third-party artificial intelligence assistants from connecting to customers via the messaging platform since January.
Competition chief Teresa Ribera said the EU was “considering quickly imposing interim measures on Meta, to preserve access for competitors to WhatsApp while the investigation is ongoing, and avoid Meta’s new policy irreparably harming competition in Europe.”
The EU executive, which is in charge of competition policy, sent Meta a warning known as a “statement of objections,” a formal step in antitrust probes.
Meta now has a chance to reply and defend itself. Monday’s step does not prejudge the outcome of the probe, the commission said.
The tech giant rejected the commission’s preliminary findings.
“The facts are that there is no reason for the EU to intervene,” a Meta spokesperson said.
“There are many AI options and people can use them from app stores, operating systems, devices, websites, and industry partnerships. The commission’s logic incorrectly assumes the WhatsApp Business API is a key distribution channel for these chatbots,” the spokesperson said.
Opened in December, the EU probe marks the latest attempt by the 27-nation bloc to rein in Big Tech, many of whom are based in the United States, in the face of strong pushback by the government of US President Donald Trump.
- Meta in the firing line -
The investigation covers the European Economic Area (EEA), made up of the bloc’s 27 states, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway — with the exception of Italy, which opened a separate investigation into Meta in July.
The commission said that Meta is “likely to be dominant” in the EEA for consumer messaging apps, notably through WhatsApp, and accused Meta of “abusing this dominant position by refusing access” to competitors.
“We cannot allow dominant tech companies to illegally leverage their dominance to give themselves an unfair advantage,” Ribera said in a statement.
There is no legal deadline for concluding an antitrust probe.
Meta is already under investigation under different laws in the European Union.
EU regulators are also investigating its platforms Facebook and Instagram over fears they are not doing enough to tackle the risk of social media addiction for children.
The company also appealed a 200-million-euro fine imposed last year by the commission under the online competition law, the Digital Markets Act.
That case focused on its policy asking users to choose between an ad-free subscription and a free, ad-supported service, and Brussels and Meta remain in discussions over finding an alternative that would address the EU’s concerns.
