Lithuanian critical system managers scrap Kaspersky Lab software

The Defense Ministry says that Kaspersky Lab software was removed from the key systems within a month, although 90 days were given for doing so.

“All critical information infrastructure managers have stopped using or have removed that software,” Rytis Rainys, acting head of the National Cyber Security Center under the Defense Ministry, said in a comment forwarded to BNS.

The list of the infrastructure is classified. It may include government agencies and privately-owned companies managing IT systems in the energy, financial system, transport, communication and other sectors.

The National Cyber Security Center said earlier that up to 5 percent of public bodies and agencies were using Kaspersky Lab software

Russia-based Kaspersky Lab is a leading global cyber-security and anti-virus software product supplier.

Concern about its products heightened after the United States said last year that the company might be working with Russian intelligence services. The US government last September banned civil agencies from using Kaspersky software. The company has appealed against the decision.

Following the Lithuanian government’s decision, Kaspersky Lab said that it “appears to be caught up in a geopolitical fight”and that it “does not have inappropriate ties with any government”.