Kaspersky Shuts Down UK Office Amid Ongoing Global Retreat
Russian cybersecurity firm Kaspersky is closing its United Kingdom office and laying off less than 50 employees to shift toward a partner-based sales model. This closure follows a recent U.S. sales ban that forced the company to completely exit the American market.
Russian cybersecurity firm Kaspersky is shutting down its United Kingdom office and laying off fewer than 50 employees. The company states that this wind-down allows it to reorient its U.K. business toward a partner channel model. Kaspersky insists that its U.K. customers and partners will still maintain full access to its European team and established partner network for cybersecurity products.
This U.K. closure comes just three months after Kaspersky initiates a similar wind-down of its United States operations. In June, the U.S. government bans Kaspersky from selling its software in the country due to long-standing accusations of ties to the Russian government, which the company consistently denies. The ban forces Kaspersky to exit the U.S. market entirely and transfer its American customer base to a new antivirus company called UltraAV.
The transition in the U.S. generates controversy as Kaspersky forces the uninstallation of its own software from users' Windows computers to replace it with UltraAV. Kaspersky defends this automatic switch by claiming it provides sufficient notification to customers. Now, the closure of the London office marks the latest setback for the cybersecurity giant as it continues to lose its footprint in Western markets.