NCSC says it has 'never certified' Kaspersky's security software

[Batu69]

Comes just weeks after US government cracked down on Russian firm

THE UK'S NATIONAL CYBER SECURITY CENTRE (NCSC) has this week that it has never certified Kaspersky's security software, just a week after the Trump administration booted the firm from two of its approved suppliers lists.

 

"The NCSC certifies products through a range of initiatives, and vendors apply to have their products certified via one of our accredited lab partners," the organisation said in a short statement to Reuters on Tuesday.

 

"We certify products through a range of initiatives, but the NCSC has never had products listed from Kaspersky."

The certification process is used, for example, to certify routers and other networking equipment deployed by BT and other network operators in the UK. Before the establishment of the NCSC, it was a function of the communications agency GCHQ.

 

The admission by the UK's state-run IT security organisation comes after authorities in the US removed Kaspersky from two public sector purchasing lists.

That decision meant that government bodies in large swathes of the US public sector are barred from buying Kaspersky products, although they can continue using Kaspersky software that is already installed.

 

The GSA's priorities "are to ensure the integrity and security of US government systems and networks", a spokesperson told Reuters.

Kaspersky responded to the decision by claiming that it was caught in the crossfire of a US-Russia geopolitical battle. "Kaspersky Lab has no ties to any government, and the company has never helped, nor will help, any government in the world with its cyberespionage efforts," the company's press spokesperson told the RIA news agency.

 

"Kaspersky Lab has no ties to any government, and the company has never helped, nor will help, any government in the world with its cyber espionage efforts," the company's press spokesperson told the RIA news agency.

 

The UK's NCSC was only established as part of GCHQ in October 2016 following an announcement by the Chancellor in November 2015.

At the time, the government said that it would "bring the UK's cyber expertise together to transform how the UK tackles cyber security issues".

 

The statement continued: "It will be the authoritative voice on information security in the UK… Our objectives are to raise awareness of government intent; undertake genuine dialogue that shapes service delivery; demonstrate serious commitment to listen; and develop sustainable engagement channels."

 

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[knowledge-Spammer]

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[Pequi]

The NCSC approved Microsoft Windows, Oracle (Sun) Java, Adobe Flash, which between them receive hundreds of patches every year because of backdoors and critical bugs. They probably strongly dissaprove of TrueCrypt, because it's never been cracked.

 

There's a lot of money changing hands to wreck Kaspersky's reputation. I saw a "antivirus test" recently that said that M$ defender was much better. Duh.

 

All reasons to use Kaspersky.  If the government says you shouldn't use it, but can't point out a technical reason why, it probably works too well.