The German cyber security authority has warned against using antivirus software from the Russian company Kaspersky.
The Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) issued the statement in view of the Ukraine conflict.
Russian IT companies could be spied on or forced to launch cyber attacks, it said.
Kaspersky told BBC News the warning was made “for political reasons” and had no ties to the Russian government.
The BSI did not provide any information on current problems with Kaspersky products, but said that the conflict in Ukraine and Russian threats against the European Union, NATO and Germany pose the risk of cyber attacks.
“A Russian IT manufacturer can conduct offensive operations itself, be forced to attack target systems against its will, or be spied on as a victim of a cyber operation without its knowledge, or as a tool to attack its own customers,” the warning said .
The BSI recommends replacing anti-virus products from Kaspersky with alternatives – but with caution, so as not to weaken the defense.
In 2017, President Donald Trump signed legislation banning the use of Kaspersky software within the US government
In the same year, the UK’s National Cyber Security Center announced it would write to all government agencies warning them against using Kaspersky products on national security-related systems.
After the BSI’s warning, Axel Hellmann, spokesman for the Eintracht Frankfurt football club, told Bloomberg: “We have informed Kaspersky’s management that we are canceling [our] Sponsorship Agreement Effective Immediately.
“We very much regret the development.”
Kaspersky said it will ask the BSI for clarification on its decision, which “was not based on a technical evaluation of Kaspersky products,” and how to address its concerns.
As a private global cybersecurity company, it has “no ties to the Russian or any other government.”
The data processing infrastructure was relocated to Switzerland in 2018
And “the security and integrity of our data services and engineering practices have been validated by independent third-party assessments.”
“We believe that peaceful dialogue is the only possible instrument for resolving conflicts,” it said.
“War is no good for anyone”
Similar statements by founder Eugene Kaspersky two weeks ago were met with severe criticism.
“Better to remain silent than to call an invasion a ‘situation’ that requires a ‘compromise,'” tweeted Rik Ferguson of rival cybersecurity firm TrendMicro.
Add Comment