Meanwhile the Russian firm seems to be failing to dispel Western concerns about its products, after the Dutch government joined the US, UK, and Lithuania when it announced on Monday that it will phase out Kaspersky Lab’s antivirus software. Kaspersky Lab was quoted as saying by Reuters that part of the new facility would be based in Zurich, and the company had chosen Switzerland for its “policy of neutrality” and strong data protection laws. With Russia rarely out of the headlines for its alleged role in election meddling, Kaspersky Lab is now looking to distance itself from its domestic troubles by moving some of its data storage and processing infrastructure to Switzerland — a country often considered to have some of the strongest data privacy regulations in the world. In a letter to parliament, Justice Minister Ferdinand Grapperhaus said the decision was made because the Russian government had an "offensive cyber programme that targets among others the Netherlands and Dutch interests".
The Dutch government, following similar moves by the United States and the United Kingdom, announces that it is phasing out the use of antivirus software products from the Russian company Kaspersky Lab "as a precautionary measure".