In a statement, Kaspersky confirmed it will be ‘reorienting’ its business towards its partner channel in the UK. It added that it has ‘(fewer) than 50 employees’ in its London office and will begin a ‘wind down’ of its operations.

Things have been going badly for Kaspersky after it was banned from selling its products in the US after being accused of having ties to the Russian Government - something it has always denied.

The firm insists it maintains independence from any outside influence, and to be fair, the US did not provide much proof of the allegation before taking the software off government servers.

Kaspersky's statement confirmed that the business will continue in the UK through partner channels, but the Kaspersky office itself will close.

Spokesperson Francesco Tius said: “This step will enable our company to harness available business opportunities in the U.K. market more efficiently, strengthening overall business prosperity.”

“Our customers and partners in the UK will maintain full access to the company’s European team and its strong and well-established partner network, through which we will continue distributing Kaspersky´s industry-leading cybersecurity products and services,”

After the firm was forced to close in the US, some Kaspersky customers were alarmed to find their antivirus forcibly uninstalled and replaced with new software UltraAV. The update was pushed without giving customers any option to accept or decline, which garnered some criticism for the security company.

However, Kaspersky insists email notifications in the weeks leading up to the update gave customers sufficient notice, and that the transition allows users to maintain access to their VPNs, identity theft protection, and password managers.