The United States government has added Canadian network intelligence firm Sandvine to its Entity List, effectively prohibiting organizations from engaging in trade with the company. Based in Waterloo, Ontario, Sandvine offers network policy control products aimed at supporting networking policies for congestion management, security, and censorship.
The move comes after the US Department of Commerce announced on Monday that Sandvine was placed on its trade restrictions list due to its alleged provision of deep packet inspection technology to the Egyptian government. According to the announcement, this technology is utilized for mass web-monitoring and censorship, targeting news outlets, political actors, and human rights activists.
Deep packet inspection involves examining and managing network traffic by analyzing specific patterns and signatures, potentially enabling the blocking or rerouting of packets.
The US government listed six different entries for Sandvine in its Entity List, covering the company’s operations in Canada, India, Japan, Malaysia, Sweden, and the United Arab Emirates. Consequently, organizations are prohibited from trading with Sandvine or supplying it with goods or technology.
SecurityWeek has reached out to Sandvine for comment, and updates will be provided if the company responds.
In addition to Sandvine, the US also added China’s Chengdu Beizhan Electronics to the Entity List for allegedly acquiring and attempting to acquire US-origin items on behalf of the University of Electronic Science and Technology, which is implicated in aiding China’s nuclear weapons program.
Transactions involving items subject to the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) with these entities will now require a license from the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), with applications for such licenses expected to be denied, as per the BIS statement accompanying the announcement.
