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Government Source Code Reviews will not be permitted by McAfee Anymore

News reported in June that McAfee was amongst several Western technology organizations that had acceded in recent years to larger demands by Moscow for access to source code, the directions that control basic operations of computer equipment.

The reviews, carried in secure facilities known as “clean rooms” by Russian organizations with expertise in technology testing, are needed by Russian defense agencies for the stated purpose of ensuring no hidden “backdoors” exist in foreign-made software.

But security experts and former U.S. officials have said those reviews provide Russia with events to find vulnerabilities that could be employed in offensive cyber operations.

McAfee ended the inspections earlier this year after turning off from Intel in April as an unconventional company, a McAfee spokeswoman said in an email to Reuters last week.

The firm declined to give a precise timeline for when it discontinued allowing such reviews.

“The new McAfee has named all its own new processes, reflecting business, competitive and threat landscapes unique to our space,” the spokeswoman said. “This resolution is a result of this transition effort.”

She combined that there had been no evidence of a confidence issue related to the reviews.

McAfee’s decision succeeds a similar move by competitor Symantec, which in early 2016 raised a global policy of refusing to comply with any government-assigned source code reviews required to win entry to a market.

Symantec Chief Executive Greg Clark told News earlier this month the decision emerged from fears the agreements would arbitrate the security of its products.

News reported this month that Hewlett Packard Enterprise recognized one such testing company, Echelon, to review on behalf of a Russian defense agency the source code of cyber defense software grasped as ArcSight, which is used by the Pentagon to oversee its computer networks.

That agreement has prompted problems from lawmakers in Washington amid broader concerns about Russia’s use of digital centers to sow discord and interference in elections in the United States and other Western countries, accusations the Kremlin has repeatedly denied.

In a letter last week to Defense Secretary James Mattis, Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen asked how the Pentagon effects risks when using software that has been viewed by foreign governments.

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Mazen Elzanaty

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