Britain’s main cyber security agency on Friday warned British government agencies to avoid using antivirus software from Russian companies.
The warnings seems specifically targeted at Moscow-based anti-virus software maker Kaspersky Lab, as concerns about Russian snooping mounts in Western democracies.
Ciaran Martin, director of the U.K. National Cyber Security Centre, said: “Russia is acting against the U.K.’s national interest in cyberspace.”
In a letter to departmental secretaries, he said Russia seeks “to target U.K. central government and the U.K.’s critical national infrastructure.”
He advised that “a Russia-based provider should never be used” for systems that deal with issues related to national security.
The agency is said to be talks with Kaspersky Lab to develop a system for reviewing its products for use in Britain.
The action against Russian entities have picked up pace after British Prime Minister Theresa May’s comments at the Lord Mayor’s banquet last month about the “scale and nature” of Russia’s actions “threatening the international order on which we all depend.”
She added that “the UK will do what is necessary to protect ourselves, and work with our allies to do likewise,” which is what appears to be happening now.
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