Source: www.securityweek.com – Author: Eduard Kovacs
Australian government entities have been instructed to not use any products and services provided by Russian cybersecurity company Kaspersky.
Australia’s Department of Home Affairs issued Direction 002-2025, which “requires Australian Government entities to prevent the installation of Kaspersky Lab, Inc. products and web services from all Australian Government systems and devices, and where found, to remove all existing instances”.
No details have been shared, but the direction has been issued under the Protective Security Policy Framework in an effort to “manage a protective security risk to the Commonwealth”, which indicates that — similar to other countries — Australia is concerned about the Russian government’s potential control and influence over Kaspersky.
Government departments and agencies have been given a deadline of April 1 to complete the removal of Kaspersky products.
SecurityWeek has reached out to Kaspersky for comment and will update this article if the company responds.
The move comes less than a year after the US announced a complete ban on Kaspersky software over fears that the company is controlled by the Russian government.
The US banned Kaspersky products and services on government systems in 2017 and in June 2024 announced that the Russian firm’s products would be completely banned in the country.
While Kaspersky was not prohibited from providing products and services related to threat intelligence, training, and consulting in the United States, the company decided to shut down operations in the US the next month.
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Kaspersky sold its US customer base to UltraAV, a brand of Pango Group, but the transition did not go smoothly.
Shortly after the US announced the complete ban of Kaspersky products last year, Australia said it had been monitoring the developments, but did not follow suit.
In some European countries, Kaspersky products have not been allowed on government systems for several years.
Related: Kaspersky, Pango Respond to User Backlash as Transition to UltraAV Nearly Complete
Related: House Lawmakers Push to Ban AI App DeepSeek From US Government Devices
Original Post URL: https://www.securityweek.com/kaspersky-banned-on-australian-government-systems/
Category & Tags: Government,Australia,ban,Government Policy,Kaspersky – Government,Australia,ban,Government Policy,Kaspersky
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