The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has added one Russian and two Chinese firms to its list of entities deemed a "national security threat," joining firms such as Huawei that were listed last year. Russian cybersecurity firm Kaspersky Lab and Chinese communications companies China Mobile Inc and China Telecom Corp will lose access to numerous federal funding sources to support telecom deployments, among other penalties.
"Last year, for the first time, the FCC published a list of communications equipment and services that pose an unacceptable risk to national security, and we have been working closely with our national security partners to review and update this list," FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said in a press statement.
"Today's action is the latest in the FCC's ongoing efforts, as part of the greater whole-of-government approach, to strengthen America's communications networks against national security threats, including examining the foreign ownership of telecommunications companies providing service in the United States and revoking the authorization to operate where necessary," Rosenworcel added.
The addition of Kaspersky Lab to this list comes as a response to the 2017 decision by the Department of Homeland Security to issue a binding directive barring the company's products from federal information systems. While not overtly tied to the invasion of Ukraine, increasing tensions between the US and Russia have placed greater emphasis on cybersecurity.
The addition of Chinese telecom firms to the list isn't shocking, however, given the growing scrutiny regulators are paying to Chinese businesses overall. The U.S. Securities Exchange Commission (SEC), for example, continues to work towards delisting foreign companies that do not meet government disclosure requirements, which has many U.S.-listed Chinese firms under intense scrutiny. For the Chinese firms affected by the FCC's decision, not only is access to federal funding cut off, but firms will likely also see U.S. contracts dry up.