Eugene Kaspersky to go to Washington to testify before Congress

Kaspersky accepts invitation to testify before the US House of Representatives Committee on Science, Space, and Technology

Kaspersky Labs founder and CEO Eugene Kaspersky has accepted an invitation to testify before Congress in the US over the security of his company's products. The hearing before the US House of Representatives Committee on Science, Space, and Technology will also no doubt cover his company's alleged relationship with the Russian government.

Brandishing a copy of the letter in a tweet yesterday evening, Kaspersky commented: "I have accepted [an] invitation to testify before US House of Representatives & address allegations about KL [Kaspersky Labs]. Hope to get expedited visa."

The hearing will be on 27 September at 10am and Kaspersky is expecting the US embassy in Moscow to expedite his visa application.

It comes in the same week that the US Department of Homeland Security issued an Order requiring all federal government agencies to identify and remove any Kaspersky software running on their networks.

The Order, the Department admitted, wasn't based on any hard evidence of compromise or potential compromise - merely the supposed "links" between Kaspersky and the Russian government.

The Order won't affect the company too much because Kaspersky Lab "had very few sales to US government organisations", Kaspersky tweeted earlier today.

However, it may have an impact in terms of raising suspicion of the company and discouraging sales, especially following admissions that the US government has been secretly briefing major US companies to ditch Kaspersky software.

In response to those admissions, the company issued a statement flatly denying the accusation of "inappropriate ties with any government.

It continued: "No credible evidence has been presented publicly by anyone or any organisation as the accusations are based on false allegations and inaccurate assumptions, including the claims about Russian regulations and policies impacting the company."

Kaspersky claims that his company is at the centre of a geopolitical tussle between the US and Russia, with Kaspersky arguably the most high-profile Russian technology company and, hence, an easy target.