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Germany And Italy Remove Kaspersky Anti-Virus Software Ahead Of Possible Cyber Attacks In Russia-Ukraine Conflict

Multiple European governments are advising against using Russia-based Kaspersky anti-virus software in anticipation of possible cyber attacks stemming from the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Germany's Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) has warned that the war in Ukraine had increased the risk of cyber attacks in NATO countries and the European Union.

In addition, the Italian government announced it would be pulling Kaspersky software from as much of its infrastructure as possible, citing concerns that their software could be used against itself.

Kaspersky has denied any implied accusations, proclaiming that the actions were politically, rather than technically motivated. The company also noted that its data processing infrastructure has been housed in Switzerland since 2018; also, in Germany’s case, the country’s data is processed in two Zurich-based centers.

Kaspersky faced similar accusations in 2017 when the U.S. Department of Homeland Security ordered Kaspersky software to be deleted on all government infrastructures, based on alleged links between the company and Russia’s FSB. At that time, the company also denied the accusation of ties with the Kremlin, asserting its status as a private company.