After being blocked by the U.S. government and related agencies, Kaspersky Lab, headquartered in Moscow, suffered another blow. On Monday, the Dutch government announced the decision to phase out the anti-virus software of Kaspersky Lab. The reason was also due to the security concerns of this Russian company. In a letter to Parliament, the Minister of Justice Ferdinand Grapperhaus mentioned that, like the United States government, the Dutch authorities are also worried about security risks at the national level.
In addition, the letter urges Dutch companies dealing with sensitive data to take the same measures. Grapperhaus stated that the Russian government has an active offensive network project for the Netherlands and its interests.
Similar to the attitude of the United States, the Dutch government stated that Kaspersky Lab deceived the relationship between the company and the Russian government, which caused certain security risks.
For this allegation, Kaspersky Lab denied in a statement:
“Kaspersky Lab is very disappointed with this decision by the Dutch government based on theoretical reasoning, especially given that Kaspersky Lab is in the process of implementing a Global Transparency Initiative specifically aimed at alleviating any concerns.”
Grapperhaus stated to Parliament that he has not found any clues that Kaspersky Lab has been abused in the Netherlands. Phase out the company’s anti-virus software is just a precautionary measure.
In order to support this policy, he mentioned the US ban and the warning issued by the British government.
Source: Cnet
