The Romanian government has approved the draft law on the protection of IT systems of public authorities and institutions, which prohibits the country’s central and local governments to buy or use Russian antivirus software products and services developed by companies originating from the Russian Federation.

The decision comes after multiple warnings from cybersecurity researchers that Russian antivirus software can be leveraged to launch cyberattacks on the government networks. The ban will be a temporary measure, the authorities said, and will last the entire duration of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The authorities have ordered IT departments to uninstall all existing products or disconnect them from the internet.

Romania is not the first country to ban Russian antivirus products. In March, the Italian government said it will limit the use of the Russian antivirus software in the public sector after Germany’s computer and communication security agency warned against the use of antivirus software made by Moscow-based cybersecurity and antivirus provider Kaspersky due to the risk of Russian cyberattacks.