In the war between Russia and Ukraine, technology companies are playing a key role. They are used to put pressure on the government of Vladimir Putin (with a long list of restrictions by global companies) and also to steal information from the enemy with the cyberattacks that we have been seeing in recent weeks (and that Europe wants to prevent by sending experts).
Well, in all this mess, Kaspersky, a cybersecurity company of Russian origin, is in the spotlight. Germany’s public cybersecurity agency (BSI) has warned users of antivirus software developed by Moscow-based Kaspersky Lab that there are a serious risk of a hacking attack.
The suspicion is not behind some bad intentions of the company. Instead, the BSI agency said the cybersecurity company, which is based in Russia, could be coerced by Russian government agents to hack computer systems abroad or that agents could surreptitiously use their technology to launch cyberattacks without their knowledge.
Kaspersky defends himself
Kaspersky said in a statement that it was a privately held company with no ties to the Russian government. He said that hehe BSI warning was politically motivatedadding that he was in contact with the BSI to clarify the matter.
This German cybersecurity body is convinced that German companies, as well as government agencies that manage critical infrastructure, are particularly at risk of a hacking attack.
The company recalls in a statement that its “data processing infrastructure was moved to Switzerland in 2018: since then, malicious and suspicious files voluntarily shared by users of Kaspersky products in Germany are processed in two data centers in Zurich. “. Other Kaspersky Security Network services are located in various countries around the world, including Canada and Germany.
On the war, he states that “we believe that peaceful dialogue is the only possible instrument to resolve conflicts. War is not good for anyone.”
The controversy with Kaspersky is not new
This is not the first time Kaspersky has been targeted for the same reason. Many are the beliefs that is used to spy on the world, in favor of the government’s interests From Russia. In 2017 Kaspersky software products were banned by the US government for their alleged ties to Russia.
Prior to this, an ABC News report citing official sources claimed that US authorities had opened a investigation into Kaspersky Lab’s relationship with the Russian government.
The Senate Intelligence Committee sent a memorandum to the director of intelligence and the attorney general warning of Kaspersky’s growing presence in the US market. These security solutions were installed in many “infrastructures reviews of the country.
Eugene Kaspersky went so far as to say that he was willing to hand over his company’s source code to US authorities if it would help prove that they don’t work for the Russian government.