The Dutch government said on Monday it had decided to phase out the use of anti-virus software made by Kaspersky Labs "as a precautionary measure" and was advising companies that safeguard vital services to do the same.

AMSTERDAM: The Dutch government said on Monday it had decided to phase out the use of anti-virus software made by Kaspersky Labs "as a precautionary measure" and was advising companies that safeguard vital services to do the same.

In a letter to parliament, Justice Minister Ferdinand Grapperhaus said the decision was made because the Russian government had an "offensive cyber program that targets among others the Netherlands and Dutch interests", and because Moscow-based Kaspersky was subject to Russian law, obliging it to cooperate with state directives. </s> The Dutch government is phasing out the use of anti-virus software made by Russian firm Kaspersky Lab amid fears of possible spying, despite vehement denials by the Moscow-based cybersecurity company.

 

 The Dutch Justice and Security ministry said in a statement late Monday the decision had been taken as a "precautionary measure" in order "to guarantee national security."

 

 But Kaspersky Lab, whose anti-virus software is installed on some 400 million computers worldwide, said Tuesday it was "very disappointed" by the move.

 

 The firm, which is suspected by US authorities of helping the Kremlin's espionage efforts, also announced Tuesday that it was moving its core infrastructure and operations to Switzerland.

 

 "Our new center in Switzerland will strengthen the proven integrity of Kaspersky Lab's products, [and] significantly improve the resilience of our IT infrastructure to any trust risk — even theoretical ones," the Russian company said in a statement.

 

 Last year, the US federal government removed Kaspersky from its list of approved vendors, weeks after senior US intelligence agency and law enforcement officials expressed concerns about the safety of its software.

 

 The Netherlands fears Kaspersky's anti-virus software is "deep in systems" and any abuse could "pose a major security risk."

 

 Dutch officials also voiced concern that under Russian law companies such as Kaspersky are "required to cooperate with the Russian government."

 

 But the company hit back saying "Kaspersky Lab has never helped, nor will help, any government in the world with its cyber espionage or offensive cyber efforts" and adding it was "being treated as guilty merely due to geopolitical issues."

 

 It said it would try to arrange a meeting soon with the Dutch coordinator for security and counterterrorism to discuss the situation.

 

 Dutch intelligence officials have increasingly warned however that they fear the Kremlin is trying to hack into Dutch companies and manipulate elections here.

 

 "Russia has an active offensive cyber program focusing on the Netherlands and vital Dutch interests," the ministry warned, adding it had therefore concluded there was a risk of "digital espionage and sabotage." </s> Add the Netherlands to the list of countries having trouble trusting Kaspersky Lab.

The Dutch government announced on Monday that it's decided to phase out Kaspersky Lab's antivirus software, citing security concerns with the Russian-based company. Like the US government, Dutch officials believe using Kaspersky Lab's software creates "national security risks," according to a letter to Parliament that Justice Minister Ferdinand Grapperhaus wrote.

The letter also urged Dutch companies with sensitive data to do the same. In the letter, Grapperhaus said the Russian government has an "active offensive cyber program that focuses on the Netherlands and the Netherlands' interests."

Kaspersky Lab has been in hot water with the US government for the last two years. US lawmakers argue the company has ties to the Russian government. The US Senate passed a bill last September banning Kaspersky software from US computers, while the Department of Homeland Security ordered all agencies to remove the software from their computers.

The letter from the Dutch justice minister made the same argument, claiming that Kaspersky Lab had ties to the Russian government and posed a security risk because of it.

The company denied the claims, writing in a statement, "Kaspersky Lab has never helped, nor will help, any government in the world with its cyberespionage or offensive cyber efforts, and it's disconcerting that a private company can be treated as guilty merely due to geopolitical issues."

Grapperhaus told Parliament that it hasn't found any evidence of Kaspersky Lab's software being abused in the Netherlands, and the government is instead phasing out the antivirus as a precautionary measure. He alluded to the US' ban, and the UK government's warnings, as more reasons for phasing out the Russian software.

In April, Twitter also banned Kaspersky from being able to advertise on the social network, claiming the company violated its Twitter ads rules.

"Kaspersky Lab is very disappointed with this decision by the Dutch government based on theoretical reasoning, especially given that Kaspersky Lab is in the process of implementing a Global Transparency Initiative specifically aimed at alleviating any concerns," the company said.

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Tech Enabled: CNET chronicles tech's role in providing new kinds of accessibility. </s> The Dutch government said on Monday it had decided to phase out the use of anti-virus software made by Kaspersky Labs "as a precautionary measure" and was advising companies involved in safeguarding vital services to do the same.

In a letter to parliament, Justice Minister Ferdinand Grapperhaus said the decision was made because the Russian government had an "offensive cyber programme that targets among others the Netherlands and Dutch interests".

He also said Moscow-based Kaspersky was subject to Russian laws that could oblige it to comply with Russian state interests.

The decision is the latest blow to Kaspersky, whose founder Eugene Kaspersky, firmly denies any cooperation with Russian intelligence. Kaspersky could not immediately be reached for comment on Monday.

The Dutch decision follows a US Department of Homeland Security ban on the use of Kaspersky software by the US Federal government in 2017

It also follows a warning by Britain's National Cyber Security Centre for agencies and organisations not to use Russian anti-virus software if they were guarding classified information that the Kremlin could target.

In April, Twitter banned Kaspersky from advertising on its platform, citing US allegations of ties between the company and Russian intelligence.

"The (Dutch) cabinet has carried out an independent review and analysis and made a careful decision on that basis," Grapperhaus said. "Although there are no concrete cases of misuse known in the Netherlands, it cannot be excluded."

Grapperhaus said the government would consider revising the decision "if circumstances justify" doing so. </s> Dutch government announces it will stop using Kaspersky Lab products, over national security concerns

Moscow-based Kaspersky Lab has confirmed plans to build a data centre in Switzerland in an effort to allay Western national security concerns about its anti-virus software.

The idea had first been mooted in March this year, and the Swiss facility The facility is to be one of a series of ‘transparency centres’ located around the world, and will be used to collect and analyse files identified as suspicious from the computers of tens of millions of Kaspersky customers based in the United States and European Union.

Meanwhile the Russian firm seems to be failing to dispel Western concerns about its products, after the Dutch government joined the US, UK, and Lithuania when it announced on Monday that it will phase out Kaspersky Lab’s antivirus software.

Kaspersky had been hoping that its ‘transparency centres’ will ease Western concerns over allegations its software is used by Russian intelligence for spying purposes.

Kaspersky Lab was quoted as saying by Reuters that part of the new facility would be based in Zurich, and the company had chosen Switzerland for its “policy of neutrality” and strong data protection laws.

“We’re addressing the question of trust by moving our data storage and processing facilities, as well as software assembly, to Switzerland,” Kaspersky Lab CEO and founder, Eugene Kaspersky, said in written comments to Reuters.

“The data of our customers from the US, Europe, Japan, Korea, Singapore and Australia will henceforth be stored and processed in Switzerland. More countries will follow.”

Eugene Kaspersky said he had received support from regional Swiss officials and the Swiss embassy in Moscow.

It is reported that the Swiss data centre will collect and analyse files identified as suspicious on the computers of Kaspersky customers in the United States, European Union and Asia.

Kaspersky is hoping this will allay concerns about laws that enable Russian security services to monitor data transmissions inside Russia and force companies to assist law enforcement agencies, according to the internal documents seen by Reuters.

Kaspersky Lab also plans to open similar centres in North America and Asia by 2020.

But if the Russian firm hoped that the Swiss facility would help, the Dutch government handed it a blunt setback this week.

Dutch justice minister Ferd Grapperhaus told MPs in a letter that the cabinet had decided to stop using anti-virus software produced by Kaspersky Lab, in order to guarantee national security.

The letter also advised Dutch companies which work with the defence ministry and other vital services to stop using the software.

Kaspersky Lab has spent the best part of a year or more denying it has any links to Russian intelligence services, but a number of Western governments have banned its use within governmental departments.

The Russian firm has filed a legal challenge against an order issued by the US Department for Homeland Security, banning its products from use by government agencies.

In the UK, GCHQ’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) warned government departments not to use antivirus software with links to Russia – such as those of Kaspersky Lab – for systems related to national security.

Kaspersky has repeatedly denied its tools could be used to pass information to the Russian authorities.

Last October it even offered the source code of current and future versions of its products for independent review, but US officials have said such a step would not suffice to overturn their qualms.

Twitter in April also banned Kaspersky from being able to advertise on the social network, saying the company violated its Twitter ads rules.

Do you know all about security? Try our quiz! </s> Russian security software company Kaspersky Lab has announced plans to shift some of its infrastructure from Russia to Switzerland as it looks to regain trust following allegations that it had ties with state-sponsored espionage programs in Russia.

The allegations that surfaced last year suggested Kaspersky had built backdoors into its security software, enabling Russian intelligence agencies to spy on the U.S. Following an audit, it was found that around 15 percent of U.S. agencies had traces of Kaspersky Lab software on their machines, leading President Donald Trump to ban use of Kaspersky Lab software within the U.S. government.

While the value of the U.S. government’s business was minimal, the reputational damage from the fallout was far-reaching, as it led to retailers such as Best Buy pulling Kaspersky’s products. Elsewhere, the Dutch government announced yesterday that it was to begin phasing out Kaspersky Lab’s anti-virus software, while the U.K. government previously warned its various internal departments about the risks of using Russian security software, though bans were only implemented for departments specifically responsible for national security.

With Russia rarely out of the headlines for its alleged role in election meddling, Kaspersky Lab is now looking to distance itself from its domestic troubles by moving some of its data storage and processing infrastructure to Switzerland — a country often considered to have some of the strongest data privacy regulations in the world. Indeed, both Microsoft and Google have recently revealed plans to open datacenters in the region, and the country is home to encrypted email service ProtonMail.

Kaspersky Lab’s move will be overseen by an “independent third party, also based in Switzerland,” according to a statement issued by the company. By 2019, Kaspersky Lab will have an operational datacenter in Zurich that will underpin its business for customers in North America, Europe, Australia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore. The company will extend support to additional countries from its Swiss hub at a later date.

Additionally, Kaspersky Lab said it will relocate its software assembly tools — used to turn source code into software — to Switzerland by the end of 2018. “The relocation will ensure that all newly assembled software can be verified by an independent organization, and show that software builds and updates received by customers match the source code provided for audit,” the company noted.

The move is part of Kaspersky Lab’s transparency initiative that was announced in September. Through this initiative, the company promised to allow third parties to review its source code and conduct independent reviews of its internal processes, as well as creating a trio of brick-and-mortar “transparency centers” to facilitate these reviews.

“The new measures are the next steps in the development of the initiative, but they also reflect the company’s commitment to working with others to address the growing challenges of industry fragmentation and a breakdown of trust,” Kaspersky said. “Trust is essential in cybersecurity, and Kaspersky Lab understands that trust is not a given; it must be repeatedly earned through transparency and accountability.”

The Kaspersky Lab saga also helps illustrate the power the U.S. government holds over international tech companies. China’s ZTE was banned by Washington last month, but this restriction extended to all U.S. firms, barring them from supplying ZTE with components and other technologies. ZTE was effectively crippled by the ban, which in turn led Donald Trump to acquiesce to pressure from China to alleviate some of the sanctions. </s> American government agencies have been ordered to remove Russia’s Kaspersky Lab cyber-security firm products within three months as the company faces increased scrutiny over suspected ties to the Russian security services.

In July, the Trump administration removed Kaspersky from the list of state agencies’ software vendors, citing concerns Russian authorities could infiltrate U.S. government networks using Kaspersky's anti-virus products or other software.

The agencies and departments have now been given one month to map their use of Kaspersky products and three months to begin their removal, the U.S. Homeland Security Department (DHS) said in an online statement on Wednesday.

“The risk that the Russian government, whether acting on its own or in collaboration with Kaspersky, could capitalize on access provided by Kaspersky products to compromise federal information and information systems directly implicates U.S. national security,” the statement said.

Kaspersky, which is headquartered in Moscow, in a reaction on Wednesday denied having ties to the Russian government.

"Kaspersky Lab has never helped, nor will help, any government in the world with its cyber-espionage or offensive cyber efforts,” it said, adding "it’s disconcerting that a private company can be considered guilty until proven innocent, due to geopolitical issues." </s> Kaspersky Lab has announced it is moving a number of its core processes out of Russia and in to Switzerland as it looks to be more transparent.

The Russian firm has said it will relocate "a number of core processes" in the move, including customer data storage and processing for a number of its biggest regions, including the US and UK.

The information will instead now be stored on Kaspersky Lab's new data centre in Zurich, which was revealed back in March. The Swiss capital will also be the new site for the company's software assembly, and a new Transparency Centre aimed at dispelling fears that Kaspersky Lab software is being used for surveillance.

Kaspersky Lab hoping to have the transition completed by the end of next year.

Eugene Kaspersky, CEO of Kaspersky Lab, said: “In a rapidly changing industry such as ours we have to adapt to the evolving needs of our clients, stakeholders and partners. Transparency is one such need, and that is why we’ve decided to redesign our infrastructure and move our data processing facilities to Switzerland. We believe such action will become a global trend for cybersecurity, and that a policy of trust will catch on across the industry as a key basic requirement.”

Kaspersky has come under fire in recent months under allegations that its products were being used to spy on foreign nations, particularly the US, UK and Lithuania.

The company was blocked from working with the US government following a ban from the Department of Homeland Security last year, which ordered all federal agencies to remove Kaspersky products from their networks.

Following this, Kaspersky Lab committed to a new Global Transparency Initiative that aimed to demonstrate its innocence to the technology industry, with other actions including setting up an independent review of the company’s source code, software updates and threat detection rules.
• Check out our list of the best antivirus software of 2018 </s> The Department of Homeland Security’s decision to ban federal agencies and departments from using products from Moscow-based cybersecurity firm Kaspersky Lab comes as no surprise, say security experts.

Officials say that the prominent company poses a threat to U.S. national security and have given government agencies and departments 90 days to get rid of Kaspersky Lab software.

“The Department is concerned about the ties between certain Kaspersky officials and Russian intelligence and other government agencies, and requirements under Russian law that allow Russian intelligence agencies to request or compel assistance from Kaspersky and to intercept communications transiting Russian networks,” DHS officials said, in a statement on the “Binding Operational Directive” Wednesday. “The risk that the Russian government, whether acting on its own or in collaboration with Kaspersky, could capitalize on access provided by Kaspersky products to compromise federal information and information systems directly implicates U.S. national security,” it added.

Security experts told Fox News that they were not surprised by the DHS move.

“The US government has a duty to protect its information, and we can assume that this decision is based on careful consideration and evidence, some or much of which they have not made public,” said Alex Hamerstone, Practice Lead for the Governance, Risk, and Compliance division at security consultant TrustedSec, in an email sent to Fox News. “While I don’t have insight into the dealings of the Russian government and Kaspersky, we’ve seen in the news over the last few years that US companies regularly cooperate with US intelligence agencies … why would we think that this isn’t happening in other countries too?”

“The U.S. government has been looking at Kaspersky for years, so this announcement is no real surprise to anyone. In fact, the GSA pulled Kaspersky from its list of pre-approved vendors back in July,” added Michael Borohovski, co-founder of Tinfoil Security, noting U.S. fears about potential cyber espionage. “The US has aired similar concerns about other companies, like Chinese telecom company Huawei, which is currently banned from entering the US network equipment market.”

Huawei, however, does sell phones in the U.S. consumer market.

The DHS National Protection and Programs Directorate told Fox News that it does not currently have data on how much Kaspersky software is being across the U.S. government. As part of its directive, the DHS is instructing departments and agencies to identify any use of Kaspersky products on their information systems in the next 30 days and to develop detailed plans to remove the software in the next 60 days. Unless directed otherwise by DHS based on new information, agencies and departments have 90 days from the date of the directive to discontinue use of Kaspersky Lab products.

The directive suggests the U.S. government puts some credence in reports that the popular antivirus company, and its founder Eugene Kaspersky, have close ties to Russian intelligence services.

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H, has been pushing to prohibit the federal government from using the firm’s products. In a New York Times column earlier this month, Shaheen warned that the company poses a danger to U.S. national security.

Shaheen welcomed the DHS move in a tweet on Wed. “Applaud DHS for heeding my call to remove all Kaspersky products from fed agencies. Kaspersky is a direct threat to national security,” she tweeted.

However, DHS is also providing Kaspersky Lab an opportunity to tell its side of the story via a written response to the Department’s concerns. “The Department wants to ensure that the company has a full opportunity to inform the Acting Secretary of any evidence, materials, or data that may be relevant,” it said. “This opportunity is also available to any other entity that claims its commercial interests will be directly impacted by the directive.”

In a statement sent to Fox News, Kaspersky Lab denied any involvement with the Russian government. “Given that Kaspersky Lab doesn’t have inappropriate ties with any government, the company is disappointed with the decision by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), but also is grateful for the opportunity to provide additional information to the agency in order to confirm that these allegations are completely unfounded,” it said. “No credible evidence has been presented publicly by anyone or any organization as the accusations are based on false allegations and inaccurate assumptions, including claims about the impact of Russian regulations and policies on the company.”

Eugene Kaspersky also tweeted in response to the DHS directive. “I guess this explains it all “Guilty ‘til proven innocent, jailed ‘til you clear your name” Welcome to 21st century,” he wrote Thursday.

TrustedSec’s Hamerstone said the DHS move could have widespread implications. “This wasn’t an easy action for the US government to take, and it will also have significant ramifications for corporations that use Kaspersky,” explained Hamerstone, who is the Practice Lead for the Governance, Risk, and Compliance division at security consultant TrustedSec. “Many of those companies will now feel compelled to go through their systems and remove this antivirus program, as well as conduct a risk assessment.”

Earlier this week, retailer Best Buy said it would stop selling Kaspersky software for the time being. In a tweet, Kaspersky Lab said that the two companies have “suspended” their relationship, which they said may be “re-evaluated” in the future.
The Dutch government, following similar moves by the United States and the United Kingdom, announces that it is phasing out the use of antivirus software products from the Russian company Kaspersky Lab "as a precautionary measure".