After allegations of espionage, the Russian cyber-security specialist Kaspersky is moving its customer data to Switzerland.
Kaspersky plans to process and store client data from Singapore, Australia, Japan and South Korea in Switzerland, the software company said Tuesday. The firm plans to establish a new data center in Zurich by the end of 2019, which will be overseen by an independent controller. Kaspersky will also move its software end-production to Zurich.
The decision to move to Switzerland was driven by the Alpine country’s strict data protection rules and its neutral status. Qualities which have also attracted the American bitcoin company Xapo to Switzerland.
Tarnished Image
Kaspersky is hoping this step will help it improve its tarnished image after coming under considerable pressure last fall. At the time several media had reported that secret programs belonging to the U.S. national security agency NSA had been passed onto Russian agents via Kaspersky.
An employee of the U.S. security organization had allegedly illegally loaded secret software onto his personal computer, which also used Kaspersky security software. Kaspersky later explained that the programs had then ended up on the company’s servers in Moscow. In response the U.S. removed all the Kaspersky programs from computers used by U.S. officials, and excluded the Russian firm from future procurement contracts.
