MOSCOW, RUSSIA - FEBRUARY 1, 2017: A view of the Kaspersky Lab headquarters. Kaspersky Lab is a Russian cybersecurity and anti-virus provider founded in 1997 by Eugene Kaspersky, its current CEO. Vyacherslav Prokofyev/TASS (Photo by Vyacheslav ProkofyevTASS via Getty Images)

Twitter has banned Kaspersky Lab, a Moscow-based security company from advertising on its platform.

The ban is as a result of the company’s alleged ties to Russian intelligence organizations.

According to Twitter, Kaspersky Labs operates using a business model that conflicts with its business practices.

However, Kaspersky Lab’s CEO, Eugene Kaspersky, in a letter to Twitter’s senior management disputed the claims.

According to Kaspersky, the ban has taken him by surprise.

“Huh? I read this formulation again and again but still couldn’t for the life of me understand how it might relate to us.

“One thing I can say for sure is we haven’t violated any written – or unwritten – rules, and our business model is quite simply the same template business model that’s used throughout the whole cybersecurity industry,” he said.

In an email to Gizmodo, Twitter cited a Homeland Security notice that warned that the U.S. government was concerned about ties between “certain Kaspersky officials and Russian intelligence and other government agencies.”

The notice also cited a Russian law that “allow Russia intelligence agencies to compel assistance from Kaspersky and to intercept communications transiting Russian networks.”

Kaspersky has denied these claims and has urged Twitter to not “shoot themselves in the foot” by catering to “geo political noise.”

It has mentioned that, it will donate its intended Twitter ad budget to the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

Report by: Stephanie Horsu