China Said to Exclude Symantec, Kaspersky Lab Software

China’s procurement agency recently told government departments to stop buying antivirus software from Symantec Corp. and Kaspersky Lab because of security concerns, people familiar with the matter said.

The exclusion follows a notice from the Public Security Ministry in June that Symantec software had security vulnerabilities, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information hasn’t been made public. The procurement agency removed the companies’ antivirus programs from its list of approved software, which includes products offered by domestic companies including Qihoo 360 Technology Co. and Kingsoft Corp., the people said.