THE HAGUE, May 14 (Xinhua) -- The Dutch national government will no longer use anti-virus software from the Russian company Kaspersky Lab, as a precautionary measure for national security, Minister of justice and security Ferdinand Grapperhaus said on Monday.
In a letter to the parliament and quoted by Dutch media, Grapperhaus referred to Russian offensive digital activity, which is "aimed, among other things, at the Netherlands".
"The government has concluded that the risk of digital espionage and sabotage is present via the Kaspersky antivirus software," said the minister in the letter. He added that there are no concrete cases of abuse by the Russian company in the Netherlands.
The Dutch government also advises companies and organizations working in the vital sectors not to use Kaspersky's antivirus software any longer.
In September, the United States announced that it would no longer use Kaspersky Lab software within the government, citing concerns that Russia is using the company's software for espionage. Kaspersky called the accusation of espionage "Cold War paranoia".