Founded in 1997, the private company Kaspersky Lab offers security solutions and antivirus software for individuals and companies. With its 24 years of experience, it has more than 400 million users and 240,000 companies. These are signs that the company is doing well and, above all, selling IT solutions that satisfy people all over the world.

However, since the beginning of the war between Russia and Ukraine, the company with Russian capital is formally in the sight of the European authorities. 

The offensive of European cybersecurity authorities

On March 15, the German Federal Office for Information Technology Security (Bundesamt für Sicherheit in der Informationstechnik or BSI) issued a warning to users of Kaspersky products and highlighted Kaspersky's probable involvement in certain computer attacks. 

The Italian Cybersecurity Agency (ACN) and the National Agency for the Security of Information Systems (ANSSI) have warned users of Kaspersky software about the security risks they could face by using this software. More rational, these two agencies invite users to be more careful. 

According to ANSSI, "Russia's isolation on the international scene and the risk of attacks against industrial actors linked to Russia may affect the ability of these companies to provide updates to their products and services and therefore to maintain them at the state of the art necessary to protect their customers. In the medium term, a strategy of diversifying cybersecurity solutions should therefore be considered". 

Kaspersky's response

Eugene Kaspersky, founder of the well-known Kaspersky Group, considers "the decision of the ISB to be an unfair and unjustified attack on my company and especially on Kaspersky employees in Germany and Europe. More importantly, it is also an attack on the many consumers who trust Kaspersky, which two weeks ago was awarded the best security offering (by AV-Test)." 

In an open letter dated on March 17, he said that the charges are purely political, and "are not supported by any objective evidence (...) No evidence of Kaspersky being used or abused for malicious purposes has ever been discovered or proven in the company's 25-year history, despite countless attempts to do so."

To show his company's integrity, he expressed his willingness to address all concerns in an objective and honest manner. He then wished for an end to the hostilities in Ukraine and a return to dialogue. 

Finally, the global cybersecurity industry is heavily impacted by the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. 

Vanessa Ntoh