Kaspersky complains about ‘political’ German advisory against it

Kaspersky has responded to an advisory issued against it by the German Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) saying users should replace its products by claiming the warning 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,” the security company said on Wednesday.

“We believe that peaceful dialogue is the only possible instrument for resolving conflicts. War isn’t good for anyone.”

One does not need to look much further than a classic Clausewitz quote to realise that war and politics are very much linked.

As the BBC reported, the BSI said the advisory was made due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

“A Russian IT manufacturer can carry out offensive operations itself, be forced against its will to attack target systems, or be spied on as a victim of a cyber operation without its knowledge or as a tool for attacks against its own customers,” BBC translated the warning as saying.

Kaspersky said its data processing was shifted to Switzerland in 2018, and its customers can “run a free technical and comprehensive review” including source code reviewing and rebuilding.

“Beyond our cyberthreat-related data processing facilities in Switzerland, statistics provided by users to Kaspersky can be processed on the Kaspersky Security Network’s services located in various countries around the world, including Canada and Germany,” the company added.