German government encourages users to move from Kaspersky Anti-Virus/Cyber Security Software

The government in Germany has recently recommended that users of Kaspersky anti-virus and cyber security software should consider looking at other options instead. This move has been recommended as a result of the ongoing war on Ukraine as well as a whole host of national security concerns. 

Germany’s Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) went on to add that Kaspersky’s software and its cloud services need to be able to retain a connection with its servers, further stating that it was vital that trust in its capability to deliver was maintained, however this trust is now longer there as a result of Russian’s invasion of Ukraine. 

They were quoted as saying “A Russian IT manufacturer can carry out offensive operations itself, be forced to attack target systems against its will, or be spied on without its knowledge as a victim of a cyber operation or be misused as a tool for attacks against its own customers,”. 

Furthermore, the BSI went on to suggest that users take the necessary steps to implement the replacement of what was stated as “essential components” of their cyber security infrastructure, as if anti-virus or cyber security related tools are simply turned off, the risks associated with doing so are much higher. 

So, where does this leave businesses in the UK? 

Currently, the National Cyber Security Centre’s (NCSC) viewpoint on this is the fact that the Russian state has and continues to launch cyber-attacks against the UK, with the agency’s technical director, Ian Levy, further adding that it was vital that all the attention was drawn on how anti-virus or cyber security software could be used in a malicious way and how it could impact on your business if it was. 

In order to combat this threat, the NCSC looked to manage both product-based and national-scale risks. 

Firstly, it held discussions with Kaspersky to gain an assurance around how secure its involvement in the wider UK market is. Given that Kaspersky is not currently banned or sanctioned by the UK government, it can be safely assumed at this stage that there are no problems at all. 

Secondly, NCSC’s leadership have discussed the issue of Kaspersky at great length with all UK government departments and made the suggestion that systems that held a national security purpose should not be making use of products that could easily be infiltrated by the Russian government. However, Levy was also keen to point out that Kaspersky is not currently used within the UK government. 

Next Steps? 

If you are a business that is currently using Kaspersky anti-virus/cyber security software and are concerned about the cyber security threats posed by the Russian government and are looking to make the move to a comprehensive cloud cybersecurity service, get your business Cyber Security Certified or are interested in taking out one of our tiered security support packages then please give our Cyber Security experts a call today to get started. 

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