As Tim Crawford, founder of research and advisory firm Avoa, told CSO’s David Strom: “You have to move quickly, don’t wait or take a chance to get close to that October deadline, because those non-updated systems will become fully vulnerable, and hackers are lying in wait for you.”

Kaspersky Lab’s software has previously been available for purchase in the US since 2005. However, in 2017, the US Department of Homeland Security ruled that federal agencies could no longer have Kaspersky’s software installed on their systems. In 2018, the software was also banned from US military systems.

“The company has carefully reviewed and evaluated the effects of the US legal requirements and made this sad and difficult decision because the business opportunities in the country are no longer sustainable,” Kaspersky Lab wrote in a statement.