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Kaspersky is reportedly planning to open a data centre in Switzerland in order to tackle spying allegations.
The Moscow-based cyber security firm is set to open its Swiss centre in order to address Western government concerns that the firm is using its anti-virus software to spy on its customers, according to documents seen by Reuters. The UK is among a number of countries to have openly declared its scepticism over Kaspersky, along with the US and Lithuania.
The first major UK firm to succumb to the concerns circulating around Kaspersky was Barclays. Quick on the heels of the National Cyber Security Centre’s (NCSC) decision to advise the UK Government against using Kaspersky products, Barclays pulled the plug on dealings with the Russian software firm.
Last year, the US ordered civilian government agencies to remove the Kaspersky software from their networks. According to Reuters, the Swiss data centre is in direct ‘response to actions in the United States, Britain and Lithuania last year to stop using the company’s products’.
A source close to the matter said that the US allegations were the ‘trigger’ for setting up the Swiss data centre. “The world is changing,” Reuters’ source said. “There is more balkanisation and protectionism.”
A Kaspersky spokesperson confirmed that plans to open a new data centre were in place, but refused to comment on whether or not the centre was in reaction to Western scepticism. “To further deliver on the promises of our Global Transparency Initiative, we are finalizing plans for the opening of the company’s first transparency centre this year, which will be located in Europe,” the spokesperson said. “We understand that during a time of geopolitical tension, mirrored by an increasingly complex cyber-threat landscape, people may have questions and we want to address them.”
