Kaspersky antivirus removed from the Public Administration
As we reported last week, Franco Gabrielli, former Chief of Police and Civil Protection and who now holds the position of Undersecretary to the Prime Minister with responsibility for national security, interviewed by Corriere della Sera had expressed his concern regarding the use of software produced in Russia, especially in Public Administration systems. In particular, reference was made to the popular Kaspersky antivirus which, as stated by Cybersecurity Italia in Il Tempo, is widely used by over 2,200 public bodies, so much so that the software could also be present on the computer of Mario Draghi, president of the board.Photo credit - Depositphotos.com It seems that the government has decided to eliminate the Kaspersky antivirus in order to strengthen the computer security of PCs and avoid any data theft. The measure, contained in the "Ukraine decree", was necessary not only for concerns related to cybersecurity, but also for the possibility that the Russian company is no longer able to provide updates for its programs and services, as a consequence of the crisis in Ukraine. As you can read in the text, the administrations must promptly proceed with the diversification
of the products in use.
Italy is not the only country that has decided to eliminate Kaspersky software from public administration systems. Already in 2017, when no war had yet broken out, the United States had banned Kaspersky programs due to suspicions relating to possible cyber espionage actions and also France and Germany recently took the same decision. The Russian company, one of the best known for its software designed to protect against viruses and malware, has always claimed that its users' data is protected and safe, but, given the current situation, its claims are now of little use.
Italian public sector must replace antivirus software linked to Russia- draft decree
ROME (Reuters) -Italy's public authorities must replace antivirus software that is linked to Russia to prevent any disruption of services due to the ongoing Ukrainian conflict, a draft decree seen by Reuters said on Friday.
The move comes as Italy's data regulator starts a probe into potential privacy risks connected to the use of software provided by Russia-based Kaspersky Lab, amid growing concerns over potential cybersecurity attacks.
The regulatory body asked Kaspersky to provide the number and the nature of its customers in the country, and to clarify how its tools process personal data, including whether these are made available to foreign governments.
Kaspersky said in an e-mailed statement to Reuters that the company had received the Italian regulator's request and it was available to respond to any concerns it may have.
Kaspersky told Reuters on Thursday that it was a privately-managed company with no ties to the Russian government and said it risked suffering from decisions that were based on geopolitics rather than real technical concerns.
Italian motor racing team Ferrari has decided to remove the Kaspersky logo from its Formula One cars and is assessing its supply ties with the company.
In a recommendation issued earlier this week, the Italian state cybersecurity agency said there was no evidence products provided by companies linked to Russia had been compromised since the Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine.
However, it warned that risks needed to be reassessed amid the growing conflict and that anti-virus software was particularly sensitive due to the 'high level of invasiveness' of the systems they serve.
A similar alert was issued on Tuesday in Germany, where the local cybersecurity body warned users of the anti-virus software developed by Kaspersky that it posed a serious risk of a successful hacking attack.
(Reporting by Angelo Amante and Elvira Pollinaediting by Gavin Jones and Keith Weir)