Positive Technologies says US sanctions had little or no effect on its business

Russian cybersecurity firm Positive Technologies said on Thursday that it is not concerned about the recent sanctions announced by the US government earlier this week, as the previous US sanctions did not have any "significant impact" on its operations.

The company was sanctioned by the US Department of Commerce on Tuesday on accusations of trafficking in "cyber tools" that were being used to hack organizations and individuals across the world.

Commerce officials added the Russian company to its "Entity List," which prohibits any US-based company or individual from engaging with Positive Technologies without obtaining a special license from the US government in advance, which the department said it would not be inclined to approve.

This was the second time that the US government sanctioned Positive Technologies after the US Treasury Department imposed similar sanctions in April, accusing the company of providing IT support to Russia's civilian and military intelligence agencies, the FSB and GRU.

Both sets of sanctions have been very controversial. In Russia, Positive Technologies is a regular government contractor that provides cybersecurity services to the Russian government, similar to how tens of American companies provide similar offensive and defensive tools and services to the US government as well.

Some have argued that the sanctions are unfairly punishing a Russian private entity for how the Russian government has been using those tools in its hacking campaigns in recent years.

Positive Technologies: 97% of revenue comes from Russia, CIS zone

But in a statement on Thursday, Positive Technologies said the US sanctions are not being viewed as a major issue inside the company—neither the first set nor the second.

"The announcement by the US Department of Commerce (DOC) is not a new development, and previous similar statements have had little or no effect on our business," according to a company spokesperson.

Positive Technologies said that 97% of its revenue comes from Russia and the CIS market, and it is not concerned about the financial or technical impact that the second wave of sanctions would inflict on its operations.

Since the company recruits from inside Russia and caters to local companies and government agencies, both sanctions will most likely prevent it from expanding to the US market, but nothing more.

The company is scheduled to go public via an initial public offering (IPO) next year. In an interview in May, after the first US sanctions, the company's management said the plan to go public would remain in place, despite the sanctions.