Italy's data privacy watchdog said it was investigating the "potential risk" Russian antivirus software Kaspersky could be used to launch cyber attacks.
This move, they said, was an alarm that was raised by many organizations in Italy and Europe, regarding suspicions of using Kaspersky software to hack, as a result of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
As quoted by The Guardian, Italy's data privacy watchdog has asked Kaspersky to provide details of the numbers and profiles of Italian customers, and whether users' personal data is transferred outside the European Union to Russia or elsewhere.
The Italian cyber security agency recommends Kaspersky users use alternative antivirus software and warns of the potential risk of cyber attacks related to the Russian-Ukrainian conflict situation.
Previously, the German cyber security agency took a similar step by recommending its citizens avoid using Kaspersky antivirus. Military and internet observers fear Russia's invasion of Ukraine could lead to an outbreak of cyber attacks and huge consequences for civilians in both countries and globally.
Not only Germany and Italy, the United States in 2017 also banned government agencies from using Kaspersky-made software. The background behind the ban was the suspicion that Kaspersky software could be used by Russia to spy on US government activities.
Kaspersky has denied the US government's allegations and said that so far there is no evidence to support the allegations. "Kaspersky Lab has never and will never assist any government in the world in cyber espionage efforts or cyber attacks," Kaspersky said.
At that time, cyber espionage began to be discussed in the US after the leaked e-mails of presidential candidates during the presidential election campaign. Many of the spying efforts were associated with Russia, so Kaspersky was exposed to the sap.