Google removes Kaspersky’s antivirus software from Play Store

Over the weekend, Google removed Kaspersky’s Android security apps from the Google Play store and disabled the Russian company’s developer accounts.

Users have been reporting over the last week that Kaspersky’s products (including Kaspersky Endpoint Security and VPN & Antivirus by Kaspersky) are no longer available on Google Play in the United States and other world regions.

Kaspersky confirmed the issue on the company’s official forums on Sunday and said that it’s currently investigating why its software is no longer available on Google’s app store.

“The downloads and updates of Kaspersky products are temporarily unavailable on the Google Play store,” a Kaspersky employee said.

“Kaspersky is currently investigating the circumstances behind the issue and exploring potential solutions to ensure that users of its products can continue downloading and updating their applications from Google Play.”

While the apps are unavailable, Kaspersky advised users to install them from alternative app stores, including the Galaxy Store, Huawei AppGallery, and Xiaomi GetApps. The company’s security apps can also be installed by downloading the .apk installation file from Kaspersky’s website.

This support page provides more information on how to install and activate Kaspersky’s software on Android devices.

This comes after Kaspersky told BleepingComputer in July that it would shut down its United States operations after the U.S. government sanctioned the company and 12 executives and banned Kaspersky antivirus software over national security concerns in June.

In a statement earlier today, Google confirmed this prompted the decision to block Kaspersky and its products on the Google Play store.

“The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security recently announced a variety of restrictions on Kaspersky. As a result, we have removed Kaspersky’s apps from Google Play,” a Google spokesperson told BleepingComputer.

In September, the Russian multinational cybersecurity company deleted its anti-malware software from customers’ computers across the United States and replaced it with UltraAV’s antivirus solution without informing its customers or asking for permission.

Update October 04, 13:23 EDT: Added Google statement.