When China says it doesn't like something, it means it. The most recent casualties? Symantec and Kaspersky.
Government departments were told recently by China's procurement agency that the purchase of antivirus software from Symantec and Kaspersky Lab must be stopped, citing concerns about security as the reason for the notice.
This comes fairly recent after an earlier announcement in June from the Public Security Ministry stated that software from Symantec had security vulnerabilities and contained loopholes like backdoors that allowed unauthorized access. This hasn't been made public though so sources providing information asked not to be named.
"Symantec does not put hidden functionality or back doors into any of its technologies -- not for the NSA or any other government entities," reiterated the company in an email statement.
When a data loss prevention software by Symantec was banned, the company immediately got into talks with Chinese authorities to discuss the matter. At that time, however, there was no sign that Symantec's antivirus programs would suffer the same fate.
"We are investigating and engaging in conversations with Chinese authorities about this matter. It is too premature to go into any additional details at this time," said Alejandro Arango, spokesman for Kaspersky, of the issue.
After Edward Snowden revealed that the National Security Agency had a spying program in place, China bolstered efforts to scrutinize foreign companies and their interaction with the country. Apple and Google did not escape Chinese criticism for allegedly working with the U.S. government's spying activity, as well as Microsoft which was also excluded from allowed purchasing orders by the government.
U.S. companies International Business Machines and Cisco Systems have also encountered difficulties working with the Chinese government after the NSA fiasco but have so far not dealt with a banning notice.
The fact that Chinese soldiers have been indicted by the U.S. on charges of cyber espionage doesn't help the situation either because of the added tension. Is China simply retaliating or does it have a very valid concern for blocking foreign companies?
Whatever China's intentions are, the issue is proving to be a silver lining for home-grown companies in the same field. With Symantec and Kaspersky out of the running, China's own Rising, Beijing Jiangmin, CAJinchen, Venustech and Qihoo 360 Technology Co. have a better shot in the country as approved anti-virus software brands.
