I was watching those Senate hearings 'live' on TV (on the C-SPAN channel here in
the US). The first thought that struck me was that this brief interchange
between the one Senator (Marco Rubio) and the intelligence chiefs might have
instantly destroyed the reputation of Kaspersky Labs, at least in the West
(among the US and its allies.) That in itself seemed grossly unfair-- and does
indeed remind me of McCarthyism. BTW, Kaspersky has a branch in the US-- so
maybe it can bring a legal suit against that Senator for something like "loss of
revenue" ;-)

From reading the international news this morning, there are hints that some
members of the US political community have some long-standing grudges against
Kaspersky Labs-- mostly from extreme-far-right officials, like Rubio and Senator
Ted Cruz (who happens to bear a striking resemblence to Joesph McCarthy, ha!)
Here are some quotes from various (respected) sources...

"Multiple American media outlets have reported that [founder Eugene] Kaspersky
has also turned down American intelligence attempts to turn him into a
[cyber-espionage] asset for the U.S., another move that stoked annoyance from
Washington."

"[Kaspersky Labs] has also reported on U.S. cyber-espionage including Stuxnet,

nuclear facility. [destroying centrifuges there, with technical help from the
US's ally Israel.]"

[correction: Eugene Kaspersky himself wasn't arrested by the Russians, it was
another member of his company...

"Public attention on the company was renewed in December [2016], when Russian

investigation team leader, and charged him with treason for allegedly passing
state secrets to American firms before he joined Kaspersky in 2012."

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