The British Government is planning to impose a ban on the usage of Kaspersky Security software on PCs and mobile phones used by government agencies from early next year. It is said that officials from the UK’s NCSC are recommending a ban based on a risk analysis rather than evidence that such espionage has already taken place.
The National Cyber Security Center (NCSC) is to write to all government departments in this regards by thus year-end, warning against the use of products for systems related to national security.
Readers of Cybersecurity Insiders have to notify a fact over here that United States 45th President Donald Trump has already issued an executive order in September this year banning Kaspersky software usage in government departments. Mr. Trump took this decision based on NSA’s advice that the said software was being used by Russian state for espionage purposes.
It is said that over 20,000 enterprise users and 7k government consumers are existing in the UK and some parts of Europe. And if the said order rolls out, it could spell a huge blow to the revenues of the Russia based security firm.
Note- The National Cyber Security Center is a London based organization that provides advice and support for the public and private sector from cyber threats. It became operational in October 2016 and works under the parent organization GCHQ.
After the outbreak of WannaCry Ransomware on NHS in May this year, the government of Britain is said to be taking all steps to prevent such cyber attacks on its public and private entities in future. As a part of this proactive strategy, it has decided to ban the usage of Kaspersky Security Software in all the government departments of UK.
