The United States has imposed sanctions on 12 senior leaders of Russia's AO Kaspersky Lab, citing cybersecurity concerns. This action comes just a day after the announcement to ban the company’s antivirus software over "national security issues".

On Friday, sanctions were directed towards the highest-level leaders of Kaspersky, including the long-term chief operating officer, Andrei Tikhonov, and the chief legal officer, Igor Chekunov, as stated by the US Department of the Treasury.

“Today’s move against Kaspersky Lab’s leadership highlights our dedication to safeguarding our cyber domain and securing our citizens from harmful cyber threats,” said Treasury Undersecretary Brian Nelson.

These sanctions prevent US firms or individuals from entering into business or financial transactions with the sanctioned leaders, and also freeze the leaders' assets in the US.

AO Kaspersky is one of the two Russian entities of Kaspersky Lab, which on Thursday, got placed on Washington's trade-restriction list for alleged cooperation with Russian military intelligence to meet Moscow’s cyber-intelligence goals.

‘Unfair competition’

On Thursday, Kaspersky stated that it will use all legal means to maintain its operations and relationships, asserting that it "does not participate in activities that threaten US national security".

The Kremlin condemned the US decision to ban Kaspersky’s antivirus software, labeling it as a move to eradicate competition for American companies.

“Kaspersky Lab is an internationally competitive company,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov commented on Friday. “This is a preferred method of unfair competition employed by the US. They frequently resort to such tactics.”

Conversely, US Department of State spokesperson Matthew Miller said that the company was under the "jurisdiction, control, or direction of the Russian government, which could misuse the privileged access to gain sensitive information”.