Made in Russia: Kaspersky
Though Russia is often perceived as a hotbed of cybercrime, it is the country that gave the world one of the top players in today’s IT security industry
Nov 05, 2013
Kaspersky Lab, developer of the famed Kaspersky antivirus software, is a company with a level of trust that experts say many Western businesses would envy. It is also one of the few Russian software firms with a global footprint.
Currently Kaspersky Lab ranks fourth in the global ranking of antivirus vendors. According to Gartner, it is the third largest vendor of consumer IT security software worldwide.
The company’s success was a joint effort between the founder of Kaspersky Lab Eugene Kaspersky and his wife Natalia Kaspersky, who is now one of the top 10 businesswomen in Russia. Eugene creating the software and Natalia managing the business, together they set up what later became one of the world’s largest technology developers.
Some say it was Eugene who single-handedly made the anti-virus program named after him world renowned, giving US rivals such as McAfee and Symantec a run for their money. Kaspersky paved the way for businessmen like Yuri Milner, who stood behind creating Mail.Ru, or the co-founders of Internet search engine Yandex to venture into the Internet space some time later.
Today the company is the world’s largest privately held vendor of endpoint protection solutions. In 2012, its global revenue grew by 3% year-on-year to exceed $600 million. Operating in 200 countries, it has offices in 29 states, and employs more than 2,800 specialists, while its products and technologies provide protection for over 300 million users worldwide.
Kaspersky Lab attracted global investor attention when in early 2011 General Atlantic became the second largest shareholder, acquiring a $200 million stake in the company. Some experts say it is now well on its way to becoming the dominant player in the world of computer security.
"Everything is at risk," Eugene Kaspersky said at a recent cyber security conference. "The threat of espionage attacks on high-profile summits, such as the G20, is very real. Critical infrastructure, computer systems, it is a very serious situation."
Recent Quocirca research reports have shown that traditional IT security is no longer good enough on its own to defend against the growing numbers of targeted attacks and other emerging threats. All IT security vendors have had to adapt, and Kaspersky has done so with a number of additions and modifications to its product set over the years. Eugene Kaspersky’s name can be found inside tens of millions of computers worldwide, proving that it is a strong brand, and it’s made in Russia.
Currently Kaspersky Lab ranks fourth in the global ranking of antivirus vendors. According to Gartner, it is the third largest vendor of consumer IT security software worldwide.
The company’s success was a joint effort between the founder of Kaspersky Lab Eugene Kaspersky and his wife Natalia Kaspersky, who is now one of the top 10 businesswomen in Russia. Eugene creating the software and Natalia managing the business, together they set up what later became one of the world’s largest technology developers.
Some say it was Eugene who single-handedly made the anti-virus program named after him world renowned, giving US rivals such as McAfee and Symantec a run for their money. Kaspersky paved the way for businessmen like Yuri Milner, who stood behind creating Mail.Ru, or the co-founders of Internet search engine Yandex to venture into the Internet space some time later.
Today the company is the world’s largest privately held vendor of endpoint protection solutions. In 2012, its global revenue grew by 3% year-on-year to exceed $600 million. Operating in 200 countries, it has offices in 29 states, and employs more than 2,800 specialists, while its products and technologies provide protection for over 300 million users worldwide.
Kaspersky Lab attracted global investor attention when in early 2011 General Atlantic became the second largest shareholder, acquiring a $200 million stake in the company. Some experts say it is now well on its way to becoming the dominant player in the world of computer security.
"Everything is at risk," Eugene Kaspersky said at a recent cyber security conference. "The threat of espionage attacks on high-profile summits, such as the G20, is very real. Critical infrastructure, computer systems, it is a very serious situation."
Recent Quocirca research reports have shown that traditional IT security is no longer good enough on its own to defend against the growing numbers of targeted attacks and other emerging threats. All IT security vendors have had to adapt, and Kaspersky has done so with a number of additions and modifications to its product set over the years. Eugene Kaspersky’s name can be found inside tens of millions of computers worldwide, proving that it is a strong brand, and it’s made in Russia.