The Canadian government has announced a ban on the use of apps from Tencent (WeChat) and Kaspersky on government mobile devices . The government justified its decision by saying that the apps are a risk to privacy and security .
“ The Government of Canada is committed to keeping government information and networks secure ,” the Canadian government said . “ We regularly monitor potential threats and take immediate action to address risks .”
As part of these efforts, WeChat and Kaspersky apps were removed from government mobile devices as of yesterday, October 30, 2023. Users of these devices will not be able to re-download these apps.
See also: What are you not allowed to do on WeChat? Tencent published a list
“We are taking a cybersecurity approach that is based on removing access to these apps on government mobile devices,” said Anita Anand, chairwoman of the Finance Ministry. She added that the apps “provide significant access to the content of the device.”
WeChat is a Chinese social networking, messaging and mobile payment app . The app was developed by Tencent and has over 1 billion monthly active users. However, the Canadian government believes that WeChat collects and transfers personal data users' to China
See also: Germany to companies: Do not use Kaspersky antivirus
Accordingly, Kaspersky has been accused of possible collaboration with Russian authorities and of possible breach of the security of data stored on devices using its applications.
On the other hand, Kaspersky is a well-known cybersecurity company based in Russia, which believes that Canada's ban is for political reasons and that it has nothing to do with assessing the integrity of Kaspersky's products and services
Canada wants to ensure that government devices remain secure and that user is not at risk of falling into the wrong hands or being used for malicious purposes.
See also: Kaspersky wants to stop its VPN service in Russia
It is worth noting that the Canadian government has also banned TikTok , owned by China’s ByteDance, for similar reasons. Additionally, in March 2022, the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) added Kaspersky to its “Covered List” of companies that pose an “unacceptable risk to national security” in the country.
Source: thehackernews.com
