Commenting on the decision by the Dutch government to phase out programs by Kaspersky Lab to Sputnik, one of the world’s leading software producers has revealed its plans to overcome the ban. The press service has told Sputnik that it will contact the Dutch National Coordinator for Security and Counterterrorism (NCTV) to arrange a special meeting, stressing the theoretical grounds of the decision.
“Kaspersky Lab is caught up in a geopolitical fight and still no credible evidence of wrong-doing has been publically presented by anyone or any organization to justify such decisions. Kaspersky Lab has never helped, nor will help, any government in the world with its cyberespionage,” the press service told Sputnik.
The Dutch Government announced its decision to give up the company’s anti-virus software as a “precautionary measure.” The country’s Justice Minister Ferdinand Grapperhaus explained the ban should protect the Netherlands and Dutch interests. According to him they are being targeted by an “offensive cyber program” of the Russian government, and Russian laws could oblige Moscow-based Kaspersky Lab to cooperate in the state’s interests.
Despite that, the software giant has pointed out its readiness to cooperate and address the fears of Western governments. Kaspersky Lab has announced its plans to open a new Transparency Center in Switzerland to store and process data of customers from the US, Europe, Japan, Korea, Singapore and Australia.
“Our new center in Switzerland will strengthen the proven integrity of Kaspersky Lab’s products, significantly improve the resilience of our IT infrastructure to any trust risk – even theoretical ones, and increase our transparency to current and future customers, as well as the general public,” the written comment by the company’s press service for Sputnik reads.
According to the company’s statement, Switzerland was chosen for its strong data protection legislation and “policy of neutrality.” Kaspersky Lab also plans to open such centers in North America and Asia by 2020.
In September 2017, the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) also demanded US state agencies and departments to stop using Kaspersky Lab products due to their potential threat to US cybersecurity.
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In January 2018 the US Treasury Department also included Eugene Kaspersky on its so-called "Kremlin report," along with 114 Russian politicians and 96 businesspeople, which may later be targeted with sanctions.
The software company has faced pressure in the United States over its alleged ties to Moscow and involvement in cyberespionage for some time, although the company has denied all the allegations. The company promised to share its code for inspection and let specialists search for vulnerabilities, apt for meddling by intelligence services.