On Friday, Italy’s data watchdog said it is investigating Kaspersky, a Russian multinational cybersecurity company, for allegedly launching cyberattacks.
According to The Guardian, the agency says it followed “alarms sounded by many Italian and European organisations specialised in computer security” over the potential use of Kaspersky software for hacking assaults in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The agency reportedly asked the company to provide details on the number and profiles of Italian users and whether their data was being transferred to Russia or elsewhere.
Reuters reported that Germany’s Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) also warned users of the antivirus software, saying the company could be coerced by Russian government agents to hack IT systems abroad. However, Kaspersky said it is a private-owned company and has no ties to the Russian government whatsoever and BSI is politically motivated.
“We believe this decision is not based on a technical assessment of Kaspersky products – that we continuously advocated for with the BSI and across Europe – but instead is being made on political grounds. We will continue to assure our partners and customers in the quality and integrity of our products, and we will be working with the BSI for clarification on its decision and for the means to address its and other regulators’ concerns,” Kaspersky said in a statement.
The cybersecurity company added that they believe in transparency and that continued implementation of concrete measures to demonstrate their enduring commitment to integrity and trustworthiness to their customers is the most important thing to them.
“We believe that peaceful dialogue is the only possible instrument for resolving conflicts. War isn’t good for anyone,” the company said.
Kaspersky said statistics provided by users to the company can be processed on the Kaspersky Security Network’s services located in various countries around the world, including Canada and Germany.
By Zintle Nkohla
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