British govt issues warning, says Russian anti-virus software Kaspersky is used for spying

A fresh warning about the security risks of using controversial Russian anti-virus software, Kaspersky has been issued by the British government which says the security firm is involved in spy agency work.

The British government according to reports will write through the National Cyber Security Centre informing all government departments warning against using the products for systems related to national security.

Commenting on the development in the new government guidance, Ian Levy, NCSC’s technical director, said: “Given we assess the Russians do cyber-attacks against the UK for reasons of state, we believe some UK government and critical national systems are at increased risk.”

Barclays bank is already complying to the warning even before it is issued as it has stopped offering free Kaspersky software to customers as a “precautionary decision”.

Read also: US bans Kaspersky products after Russian hackers were found using software

A Barclays spokesman said: “Even though this new guidance isn’t directed at members of the public, we have taken the decision to withdraw the offer.”

On Saturday, the UK bank emailed 290,000 online banking customers who had downloaded Kaspersky over the past decade – but advised those with the software already installed to take no action.

Two months ago, US officials ordered federal agencies to remove the company’s products from their networks after Russian hackers were reportedly found using Kaspersky.

Israeli intelligence officials spying on hackers linked to the Russian government found that one of their target’s favorite tools was Kaspersky Lab’s antivirus software, which is used by 400 million people around the world.

The Israeli officials, who had detected the hacking two years ago, alerted the US that Russian hackers were using the software as a sort of Google search engine for sensitive information, leading the Trump administration to order federal agencies to remove the Moscow-based cybersecurity software company’s products from their networks.

 

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