Kaspersky to shut Washington office following US government snub
Vendor cuts losses in Washington, but remains optimistic on working with UK government
Kaspersky will shut its Washington office after the US government ordered all departments to remove the vendor's software from its systems.
In September the US Department of Homeland Security gave government organisations 90 days to remove all traces of Kaspersky, citing "ties between certain Kaspersky officials and Russian intelligence".
The snub has had a sufficient impact on Kaspersky for it to close its Washington office, Bloomberg has reported, with Kaspersky vice president Anton Shingarev said to have confirmed the news in an interview in Moscow.
Shingarev also took a swipe at the US government, criticising its stance on cybersecurity compared with European governments.
"What I like about Europe is that their regulators are fact-driven," he said, before accusing the US of making decisions based on "speculations".
The UK's National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) published a less damning assessment of Kaspersky last week, advising that a government organisation should not use a Russian-based cybersecurity company if it is processing "secret" information, but stopped short of advising all organisations to ditch Kaspersky completely.
"Whatever you do, don't panic," the NCSC said. "For example, we really don't want people doing things like ripping out Kaspersky software at large, as it makes little sense."
The NCSC also said that it was working with Kaspersky to discuss whether a framework could be developed that will provide assurances of Kaspersky's integrity to UK organisations.
It also said its advice was aimed at central government, which has a "relatively small" number of systems running Kaspersky, and that the advice would not be broadened out to include the wider public sector.
Eugene Kaspersky criticised some of the media coverage following the NCSC's advice, writing on Twitter that the report does not signal an end to Kasperksy's presence in the UK.
On Twitter, he said: "Let me stress: there is no ban for KL (Kaspersky Lab) products in the UK.
"We are in touch with [the] NCSC regarding our Transparency Initiative and I am sure we will find the way to work together."
Dave Stevinson, managing director of Kaspersky partner GNR Technology, also expressed his disappointment of some of the media coverage, which he said blew NCSC report out of proportion.
Stevinson previously spoke out in support of Kaspersky when the US government announced its plans to remove the vendor's products from its systems.
"It is shameful and desperately disappointing that elements of the popular press, including the BBC, have appeared to misunderstood the report and sensationalised the issue, for what purpose?" he said.
"It is apparent that the recommendation is irrelevant to all but a handful of UK central government departments, and in my considered opinion it is fake news."