Software created by a Russian company was ordered removed from federal agencies last December by Congress, but the feat has so far proven rather difficult, The Daily Beast reports.
"It's messy, and it's going to take way longer than a year," one U.S. official said. "Congress didn't give anyone money to replace these devices, and the budget had no wiggle-room to begin with."
The National Defense Authorization Act, signed by President Donald Trump, orders all U.S. government organizations to remove Kaspersky software by October of this year. The ban came amid fears the software can be used by Russian intelligence services.
The Department of Homeland Security is responsible for overseeing the implementation of the ban, but DHS chief Kirstjen Nielsen has not updated senators concerning the purge despite a promise to do so at a May 8 hearing, according to the Daily Beast.
"There are so many subcommittees claiming jurisdiction over cybersecurity issues that there are different panels of oversight, different pots of money," the official said.
"The executive branch is being torn in different directions. . . . The legislative branch, in their refusal to effectively organize on this issue, shares equal responsibility with the executive for failures in US government cybersecurity," the source added.
Lawmakers started to grow concerned about using the software after the intelligence community said Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election.
Kaspersky is seeking to overturn the ban, and has filed a lawsuit seeking to do so.
"Kaspersky Lab maintains that these provisions are unconstitutional and unfairly target the company for legislative punishment, without any meaningful fact-finding or evidence," a company spokesperson said in a statement.
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