Six Russian IT Companies Targeted by New U.S. Sanctions
A new round of U.S. sanctions against Russia has affected six Russian IT companies suspected by U.S. authorities of involvement in cyberattacks through SolarWinds software. This was announced in a press release from the White House: “The Biden administration is taking action… against Russia for actions by its government and intelligence services against the sovereignty and interests of the United States.”
Companies Included in the Sanctions List
The following companies were added to the sanctions list:
- Technopolis “ERA”
- JSC “Pasit”
- Research Institute of Specialized Computer Security Devices and Automation
- LLC “Neobit”
- Advanced System Technologies
- Positive Technologies
The inclusion of Positive Technologies in the sanctions list caused a significant reaction among industry experts, as the company is considered a leading player in the cybersecurity market.
“Wow, Positive Technologies—one of the most well-known Russian companies in the field of computer security—has been sanctioned. The integrator AST is also on the list,” wrote Alexander Plyushchev, a journalist from Echo of Moscow.
About Positive Technologies
Positive Technologies ranks 15th in Forbes’ list of the largest Russian internet companies, with a valuation of $580 million. The company has offices in St. Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Samara, Novosibirsk, Akademgorodok, Tomsk, and also in Kazakhstan (Nur-Sultan). Since 2004, Positive Technologies experts have discovered vulnerabilities in products from Cisco, Google, and Microsoft.
Expert Opinions on the Impact of Sanctions
The Telegram channel SecAtor expressed the opinion that the sanctions are unlikely to be fatal for the company, as it primarily serves Russian organizations:
“A temporary dip in performance is likely due to the panic of some unstable clients. However, plans for an IPO will have to be put on hold for a while. Pessimistic (but not panic-driven) sentiment among potential shareholders is reflected in Positive Technologies’ bond prices, which dropped by 2% at the time.”
The channel also considers the accusations against Positive Technologies questionable. The company conducted research on major corporations and analyzed products such as Intel, as well as many others, which may have angered American firms. However, “even here, we do not see a real reason for including Positive Technologies in the sanctions list,” experts note.
“There are many similar activities, and the company itself has adhered to industry practices of responsible vulnerability disclosure,” SecAtor writes.