Chinese govt drops anti-virus Symantec and Kaspersky

A twitter post by People's Daily shows five internet security products, all domestic have got authorized for use in government departments, including Qihoo 360, Venustech, CAJinche, Beijing Jiangmin and Rising. [Photo: twitter.com]

China will remove antivirus software developed by Symantec and Kaspersky off its government procurement list, the latest move in its efforts to promote homegrown brands.

A twitter post by People's Daily shows five internet security products, all domestic have got authorized for use in government departments, including Qihoo 360, Venustech, CAJinche, Beijing Jiangmin and Rising.

Alejandro Arango, the spokesman of Kaspersky said, the company is having talks with Chinese authorities about this matter.

Symantec has not yet responded to this news.

China's central government has encouraged the use of domestic products in all sectors.

Earlier this year, it banned installation of microsoft's windows operating system and office software on all computers used by government employees.