Kaspersky products banned from government systems and devices

On 21 February the Department of Home Affairs issued a mandatory direction banning the use of all Kaspersky Labs products on federal devices.

The direction is intended “to prevent the installation of Kaspersky Lab, Inc. products and web services from all Australian Government systems and devices”.

The direction, made under the Protective Security Policy Framework (PSPF), also requires federal entities to remove all instances of Kaspersky’s products.

The Department has assessed that the software poses an unacceptable security risk to Australian government, networks and data, “arising from threats of foreign interference, espionage and sabotage”.

“I also considered the important need for a strong policy signal to critical infrastructure and other Australian governments regarding the unacceptable security risk associated with the use of Kaspersky Lab products and web services,” said Stephanie Foster, Secretary of the Department of Home Affairs.

All traces of Kaspersky need to be removed from all systems and devices by 1 April this year.

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