Germany’s Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) has warned businesses against using Kaspersky virus protection products amid concerns of Russian technology being coerced by Russian government agents and forced to attack target systems against its will or spied on. The BSI did not raise any concrete allegations against Kaspersky products but recommended replacing them with alternatives due to the Russian-Ukraine conflict. The Russian vendor responded in an official statement suggesting the BSI’s actions have been made on political rather than technological grounds.
The warning echoes earlier unconfirmed claims by U.S. intelligence agencies about ties between Kaspersky and the Russian government. Those claims led to the removal of Kaspersky Lab products of approved vendors for U.S. federal agencies in 2017.