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British bank Barclays ceases offering customers Kaspersky Lab's antivirus

At the same time, according to the letter the bank sent out to its customers, "there's nothing to suggest that customers need to stop using Kaspersky"

LONDON, December 2. /TASS/. One of the largest British banks Barclays has ceased to offer its customers free antivirus programs from Russian IT company Kaspersky Lab, which was a response to the warning of the British National Cybersecurity Center (NCSC), according to the letter the bank sent out to 290,000 of its customers.

According to the letter, "The UK government has been advised... to remove any Russian products from all highly sensitive systems classified as secret or above." "We've made the precautionary decision to no longer offer Kaspersky software to new users," the letter said.

At the same time, according to the letter, "there's nothing to suggest that customers need to stop using Kaspersky."

On Friday, NCSC banned the use of Kaspersky Lab products in government agencies responsible for national security. However, NCSC's statement noted that it did not call on enterprises and ordinary users to abandon the services of the developer.

The Russian company said on Saturday that it is in a constructive dialogue with the NCSC to develop a mechanism that would help to carry out independent verification of the security of its products and services. The message emphasized that the current ban "is based solely on the analysis of potential risks and not on the evidence of any violations by Kaspersky Lab."

On September 18, the US Senate approved the rule that prohibits US federal agencies from using the software of the Russian Kaspersky Lab. This amendment was included in the draft law on the Pentagon budget for 2018 financial year, it was adopted by 89 votes in favor, only 8 senators spoke against it.

At the same time, Kaspersky Lab press service told TASS earlier about the company’s plans to continue investing in business development in North America, and in 2018 expects to open two new offices in Chicago and Los Angeles.

On July 11, the Trump administration removed Kaspersky Lab from two lists of suppliers which products may be bought for state structures. US mass media have alleged numerous times the company’s collusion with the Russian intelligence services.

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