London (CNN) Britain's National Cyber Security Center has advised all UK government departments to avoid using Russia-based anti-virus software, warning that it could be exploited by the Russian government.

The guidance was issued in an open letter to all UK permanent secretaries and released to the public on Saturday.

NCSC chief executive Ciaran Martin cautioned in the letter that in cases where access to the information by Russia "would be a risk to national security, a Russia-based (anti-virus) company should not be chosen."

The guidance goes further, adding that "for systems processing information classified SECRET and above, a Russia-based provider should never be used."

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