December 03, 2017, 11:32 / Finance / Technology

Barclays Bank has stopped offering Kaspersky antivirus to clients

The British bank Barclays has stopped offering Kaspersky Lab products to its customers for free, the BBC reports . The bank has been cooperating with the Russian company since 2008. During this time, 290,000 of its clients installed Kaspersky antivirus on their devices.

On Saturday, UK authorities recommended that government organizations stop using Kaspersky Lab products. The company was suspected of having connections with Russian intelligence services. First of all, departments related to the country's national security should abandon Kaspersky antivirus.

Private users and companies were not encouraged to abandon the Russian antivirus. However, the widespread distribution of Kaspersky programs through Barclays worries the British authorities, since the bank's clients include government officials and representatives of law enforcement agencies.

The bank said it takes the safety of its customers very seriously. “We have decided, out of an abundance of caution, to no longer offer Kaspersky Lab software to new users. However, there is no reason to advise other customers to stop using Kaspersky,” the bank said in a statement. They emphasized that those who already have Kaspersky antivirus do not need to take any action.

A Kaspersky Lab spokesman told the BBC the company was disappointed by the end of its partnership with Barclays.

Previously on the topic: British ministries were banned from using Kaspersky antivirus Previously on the topic: Great Britain suspected Kaspersky Lab of collecting data for the FSB Previously on the topic: Kaspersky Lab responded to suspicions of espionage in Britain