Russian cybersecurity company Kaspersky Lab has yet to recoup the losses it sustained due to a slump in sales in the North American market that resulted from Washington banning the use of the company's software in government agencies, Anton Shingarev, the company's vice president for public affairs, told Sputnik
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 07th November, 2019) Russian cybersecurity company Kaspersky Lab has yet to recoup the losses it sustained due to a slump in sales in the North American market that resulted from Washington banning the use of the company's software in government agencies, Anton Shingarev, the company's vice president for public affairs, told Sputnik.US authorities banned Kaspersky Lab products in 2017 after becoming concerned about its presence in Federal networks in the wake of Russia's alleged 2016 election meddling. Kaspersky Lab appealed the decision, but a judge in the District of Columbia rejected the company's claim that the ban was unconstitutional. As a consequence, the company reported a 25 percent decrease in sales in the North American market in 2018.
"The US market is enormous and we did, in fact, make the most money on it. Our other markets are growing, our business is growing. Unfortunately, it is not growing fast enough to compensate for the losses from the business in the United States," Shingarev said when asked whether the company had managed to make up for the losses caused by the US ban.
Despite the slowdown in the North American market, Kaspersky Lab is still considering plans to open a transparency center in the region that will aim at reassuring customers of the security of the company's products, the executive noted.
"We are in fact still thinking of North America. Canada is one of the options. But we do not want to open a center which only we would be in need of. We are working closely with regulators and if there is no request in North America, then there is no point in opening a center. Perhaps Latin America [could be an option]," Shingarev said.
From the company's understanding, the Canadian authorities have no plans to impose a ban on its products, the executive added.
Even though the US market is one of the largest for Kaspersky Lab, in 2018 it reported a growth of 27 percent in the middle East, Turkey and Africa, as well as a 6 percent increase in Russia and Central Asia.
