The fear is that Putin might lean on Kaspersky to snoop on Americans or sabotage key US systems.

Kaspersky products are widely used in homes, businesses and government agencies throughout the United States, including the Bureau of Prisons. Kaspersky Lab’s products are stocked on the shelves of Target and Best Buy, which also sells laptops loaded by manufacturers with the firm’s anti-virus software.

A memo sent last month to Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and Attorney General Jeff Sessions, the Senate Intelligence Committee raised possible red flags about Kaspersky Lab and urged the intelligence community to address potential risks posed by the company’s powerful market position.

“This is an important national security issue,” declared the bipartisan memorandum.

The Department of Homeland Security issued a secret report on the matter to other government agencies. And the FBI is investigating the nature of Kaspersky Lab’s relationship to the Russian government.

Kaspersky has repeatedly insisted it poses no threat to US customers and would never be used as a government tool.

But apparently, some of its executives worked for Russian intelligence and military agencies and the outfit’s possible relationship with Russian intelligence services makes a lot of people in the national security community uncomfortable.

US officials fear Kaspersky Lab products have the potential to facilitate Russian cyberattacks on power grids or other key utilities.

Last year, FBI officials communicated potential concerns about Kaspersky Lab to a select group of private-sector leaders, including the Electricity Subsector Coordinating Council, an organization of electric company chiefs from across North America, sources said. The Senate Intelligence Committee also received several briefings on the matter.

However Kaspersky has long maintained it has no “inappropriate” links with the Russian government, and it recently issued a statement dismissing the types of concerns being raised by US officials.

“Kaspersky Lab does not develop any offensive techniques and has never helped nor will help any government in the world with their offensive efforts in cyberspace,” it read.

It is also possible to configure Kaspersky products so that they do not send any data to servers in foreign locations like Russia. Also, enterprise and government users can install a local “Kaspersky security network center on their premises to make sure the data never leaves their facility or country.

Eugene Kaspersky surmised that US officials are now voicing concerns about his company “simply because” of the “present geopolitical turbulence” and the firm’s growing success.