Kaspersky Evgeny Valentinovich

Kaspersky Evgeny Valentinovich

Kaspersky Evgeny Valentinovich is the founder, head of antivirus research, as well as the general director of Kaspersky Lab CJSC and one of the world's leading antivirus experts.

Member of the Organization of Computer Virus Researchers (CARO)^[1], which brings together the most outstanding experts in this field.

Aktivs

The main assets of Evgeny Kaspersky:

• CJSC Kaspersky Lab.

State

March 11, 2015 it became known about the inclusion of Yevgeny Kaspersky in the list of billionaires^[2] in the Forbes rating. In addition, he is in the top ten richest new people - representatives of the technological industry.

His fortune is estimated at $1 billion. In the Forbes general list, Kaspersky ranks 1741. As of March 11, 2015, Kaspersky Lab products have about 300 million users. The company employs more than 2.7 thousand people, offices operate in 30 countries.

By mid-April 2020, the fortune of Yevgeny Kaspersky is estimated by Forbes at $1.3 billion. Read more here.

Biography

Born October 4, 1965 in Novorossiysk, Russia.

How and why Kaspersky became Kaspersky. Full biography and unique photos.

1982 - graduated from the Physics and Mathematics Boarding School No. 18 named after A.N. Kolmogorov at Moscow State University.

1987 - graduated from the military educational institution "Higher Red Banner School of the KGB" (currently the faculty is known as the Institute of Cryptography, Communications and Informatics of the Academy of the FSB of Russia)^[3]

He began studying the phenomenon of computer viruses in October 1989, when the Cascade 1704 virus was detected on his computer.

After the institute, Kaspersky served in the army, retired to the reserve with the rank of senior lieutenant.

Evgeny Kaspersky studied at the Institute of Cryptography, Communications and Informatics at the Higher School of the KGB

until 1991 - worked at the multidisciplinary research institute of the USSR Ministry of Defense.

1991-1997 - worked at the KAMI Research and Development Center, where, together with a group of like-minded people, he developed the AVP antivirus project (later Kaspersky Anti-Virus).

1997: Founding of Kaspersky Lab

1997 - Founded CJSC Kaspersky Lab^[4].

He was only the head of all antivirus research of the company.

2001 - organized the opening of the annual Virus Bulletin conference - the central event in the antivirus industry, as well as the successful confrontation with all global virus epidemics that occurred in 2001, including CodeRed, Nimda, SirCam, Goner, Aliz, etc.

2007: CEO of Kaspersky Lab, film debut

2007 - General Director of CJSC Kaspersky Lab.

2007 - Kaspersky made his debut as an actor in the TV series "Network," which tells about Russian hackers.

2009: Member of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation

Having visited Kaspersky Lab, the head of Russia considered the office interesting and modern.

2009 - Member of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation^[4]

On June 18, 2009, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev held a meeting of the Commission on Modernization and Technological Development of the Russian Economy at the Kaspersky Lab office. Yevgeny Kaspersky himself took part in the meeting of the commission, who made a report to its participants on the production of Russian software. The head of the laboratory gave the president an excursion, showing the head of state a server room, an "iron room" where antiviruses are tested, as well as a virus laboratory where virus analysts manually catch viruses. The President considered the office of the Laboratory "interesting and modern."

2010: Member of the Skolkovo Advisory Scientific Council

August 2010 - Member of the Advisory Scientific Council of the Skolkovo Innovation Center.

According to the results of 2010, for the first time entered the rating of Russian billionaires of the magazine "Finance" and immediately in 129th place^[5]

2011: Forbes estimates Kaspersky's fortune at $800 million

In the ranking of the Russian-language version of Forbes "The richest businessmen of Russia - 2011" takes 125th place with a fortune of $800 million^[6].

2012

Forbes fortune estimate - $700 million

In the Forbes Russia 2012 ranking, Kaspersky ranks 139th with a fortune of $700 million^[7].

Support for the European Commission's anti-cyber initiative

2012 -^[8] supported the European Commission's anti-cyber initiative].

Inclusion in Wired's list of the world's most dangerous people

In December 2012, the American magazine Wired included Eugene Kaspersky in the list of 15 most dangerous people in the world (The 15 Most Dangerous People in the World), putting him in eighth place.

The first three places in it are occupied by the head of the Iranian special forces, General Qassem Suleimani, Syrian President Bashar Assad and Mexican drug lord Joaquin Guzman^[9].

Wired motivated Kaspersky's co-optation into a rating of "dangerous people" by the work of the Laboratory headed by him to neutralize the Stuxnet, Flame and Duqu malware, which attacked industrial and government facilities in Iran and other Middle Eastern countries, as well as his rhetoric in favor of restricting Internet freedoms.

"Recently, the United States conducted an Internet campaign to spy on and counter Iranian nuclear scientists. However, cybersecurity experts exposed each of Washington's projects that used malware, rendering Stuxnet, Flame and Duqu useless.

Many of these specialists work for Yevgeny Kaspersky, a Russian computer security magnate who runs one of the largest and most qualified antivirus companies in the world, "Wired wrote.

Noah Shachtman, whose authorship was dedicated to Eugene Kaspersky in the "list of the most dangerous people," writes:

"If the only thing Kaspersky did last year was to intervene in American efforts to curb Iran's nuclear ambitions, then he would have already earned himself a place on the list of the most dangerous people in the world, but there are other claims to Kaspersky. As a longtime ally of Russia's special services, he is engaged in technical expertise in the interests of the FSB, the successor to the KGB, whose agents are trained by his experts in computer forensics. When Kaspersky's son was kidnapped, the FSB came to his aid. "

The second motive for including Kaspersky in the rating was his position on Internet control: "Kaspersky stated that there was" too much freedom "on the Internet and supported additional state control over social networks, which he partly accused of kidnapping his son. A few months later, a new law was passed in Russia prohibiting many categories of websites and obliging Russian telecom companies to introduce new methods of surveillance (for users - approx. CNews). Now Western intelligence agencies are scratching their heads, did Kaspersky experts act on their own when they thwarted a malware attack on Iran, or did they do it with the help of the Kremlin? " Shakhtman is interested.

Employees recorded a video in honor of the birthday of Yevgeny Kaspersky

October 4, 2012 Evgeny Kaspersky turned 47 years old. On this day, a clip appeared on the network, recorded by Kaspersky Lab employees, in which they sing wishes to their boss on his personal holiday in English.

2013: Ranked 134 in Forbes with a net worth of $800m

In 2013, Russian Forbes ranked Kaspersky 134th with a fortune of $800 million.

2014: 118th in Forbes with a net worth of $900m

In 2014, Evgeny Kaspersky is in 118th place in the Forbes rating with a fortune of $900 million.

2015: Ranked 86 on Forbes with a net worth of $1bn

In 2015, Evgeny Kaspersky in 86th place in the Forbes rating - a fortune of $1000 million.

2016: 66th in Forbes with $1.1bn fortune

In 2016, Evgeny Kaspersky in 66th place in the Forbes rating - a fortune of $1100 million.

2017: 70th in Forbes with $1.3bn fortune

In 2015, Evgeny Kaspersky in 70th place in the Forbes rating - a personal fortune of $1300 million.

2020

Putin called Evgeny Kaspersky Russian Elon Musk

In early March 2020, Vladimir Putin in an interview with TASS called Evgeny Kaspersky Russian Ilon Mask. So the head of state answered the question of who in Russia can be the same role model as the founder of Tesla.

We have Kaspersky. I think that in his field he is no worse... If they had not pressed [Kaspersky Lab in the USA - approx. TAdviser], artificially did not restrain competition, it would have been even better, "Mr. Putin said, adding that the founder of Kaspersky Lab is not the only such person in Russia," just what comes to mind right now, on the fly. "

Vladimir Putin in an interview with TASS called Evgeny Kaspersky Russian Ilon Mask

During the interview, Putin also recalled, by analogy with Tesla electric vehicles, the Russian developments of the hybrid "Yo-mobile," which were led by the ONEXIMikhail Prokhorov group.

So far, he has not succeeded, - he stated. Putin noted that "even he took a ride, but he has not succeeded yet."

The president was also asked if he heard the expression "How do you like that, Elon Musk?" Vladimir Putin replied that it was unfamiliar to him.

Meanwhile, the head of the InfoWatch group of companies Natalya Kasperskaya called the words of Vladimir Putin, who compared her ex-husband Yevgeny Kaspersky with Elon Musk, offensive.

Musk, in my opinion, is an over-the-top figure. This is a man who managed to successfully sell one of his companies, then he was taken by the head of the company and he runs it very mediocre, at least from a financial point of view: Tesla generates the wildest losses, its rocket company is also deeply unprofitable. From an engineering point of view, we also do not know what distinguished Elon Musk. In my opinion, he is a PR man, - said Kasperskaya in a conversation with the publication "Rise"

According to her, this comparison is "even offensive," since Yevgeny Kaspersky did something real: he created his own product, invented an antivirus and personally did this for many years, developed it.^[10]

Kaspersky - about bullying in the USA and sovereign Runet

On March 16, 2020, ZDNet published fragments from an interview with Evgeny Kaspersky. The founder of Kaspersky Lab touched upon the topics of sovereign Runet and sanctions against the company in the United States.

According to ZDNet, in 2016, Kaspersky Lab's revenue amounted to $640 million, but then the entire company's business was under attack due to the fact that the software of the Russian manufacturer was banned by the US government. According to Yevgeny Kaspersky, the company's business with the American authorities was insignificant, and there was no reason for them to bring charges against Kaspersky Lab. The businessman called the situation around the company "bullying."

The founder of Kaspersky Lab touched upon the topics of sovereign Runet and sanctions against the company in the United States

All of these allegations are built on fabricated data. Two years later, it became clear that all this was a lie. No evidence has been provided in two years, "Kaspersky said.

According to him, when Kaspersky Lab collaborated with the US government, it was about contracts worth $50 thousand, which is a "negligible" small amount. The hearing in the American Congress cost the government more than the lost revenue - at least in the first stage, he said.

The question of why Kaspersky Lab was outlawed in the United States, the CEO of the company addressed the country's authorities.

I think it is better to ask this question on the other side of the Pacific Ocean, - said Yevgeny Kaspersky.

According to him, the Kaspersky Lab software does not fully establish the authorship of the threat, but the software can detect state-sponsored malicious attacks. The head of the company conditionally divides all threats into two large categories: those that steal data as part of espionage and those that steal money to enrich cybercriminals. Kaspersky believes that it is the ability of systems to detect pro-government threats and establish links between the source code of the detected sample and malware from other sources that has become the factor by which the company's products have become inconvenient for the American government.

According to Yevgeny Kaspersky, the company's business with the American authorities was insignificant, and there were no grounds for bringing charges against Kaspersky Lab

According to Yevgeny Kaspersky, after the introduction of restrictions by the United States, the company's revenues in other parts of the world increased, so the losses incurred in the North American market were offset by business growth in other regions. Partners who abandoned Kaspersky Lab products in 2016 have now begun to return and restore business relations, he said.

The general director of Kaspersky Lab compared the situation that his company faced with the scandal around Huawei.

I'm afraid that both of these stories are tied to geopolitics and conjugate moments, "Kaspersky emphasized, adding that if the Chinese government wants to spy and steal data, it can use simpler and cheaper methods.

As for Russia's desire to concentrate citizens' data within the country, Kaspersky believes that we are not talking about complete isolation. According to the head of the antivirus company, Russia's desire not to depend on other countries is quite understandable.

Evgeny Kaspersky believes that Russia is unlikely to be able to disconnect from the world Internet and create a completely autonomous national network, since there are too many international communications, the circumcision of which will be very expensive.

Russia, as I see, wants the data to be stored in the country. They don't want to depend on the rest of the world. Now they are checking their system for autonomous isolated work in order to be sure that if something happens, the system must work independently, Kaspersky said.[11]

2022: Joining the list of the largest IT billionaires in Russia

In August 2022, TAdviser compiled the first list of the largest IT billionaires in Russia. Eugene Kaspersky took first place in it (more).

Awards and titles

June 4, 2009 - laureate of the State Prize of the Russian Federation in the field of science and technology (for major achievements in the field of modern computer information protection systems), the amount of which is 5 million rubles. He decided to send all the funds received to the development of the Moscow specialized physical and mathematical boarding school No. 18 named after A.N. Kolmogorov, in which^[12] of^[12]."

September 29, 2009 - Received the PRC National Friendship Award (for "contribution to the development of the Chinese information security industry") ^[13].

September 29, 2009 - Receives the Heihe River Friendship Award - a distinction for foreign specialists who have made a significant contribution to the economic and social development of the city^[13].

2010 - Received the title of "Leader of the Year" from SC Magazine Europe.

2007 - Symbol of Science Medal^[14]

The medal "Symbol of Science" was awarded.

Hobbies

Loves Formula 1 in general and Scuderia Ferrari in particular.

He is fond of kayaking, skiing, mountaineering, and also considers work to be his hobby: "For me, hobbies are work, and work is a hobby^[15].

One of the main hobbies is travel: both on duty and simply out of love for long-distance wanderings, Kaspersky visited various parts of the world, from Kamchatka to the South Pole and regularly reports on travel at the forum of his own fan club^[16]

2018: Kaspersky published the book "Altai - Big Water"

On February 28, 2017, it became known about the release by a businessman of a book about Altai - "Altai - Big Water."

Altai is one of the most amazing and magical places on Earth. Here it is not just beautiful, here it somehow especially "takes away." Is there any special power in the local rocks, or is something else unknown to us in the depths of the rocks. I don't know. But here the paints are brighter, and the water is tastier, and the grass is greener, and the mountains are more contrasting. Eugene Kaspersky

Quotes

"It is necessary to live in such a way that money is remembered as rarely as we remember the air." (Interview with "Russian Reporter")

"I feel like a man who is on the front line in the war against cybercriminals." (Interview with Computerra magazine)

I am convinced that "good positive authority helps in everything. But to lead the company, only the authority of a security expert, of course, is not enough. We must prove to ourselves and others that the decisions made are correct, optimal, lead the company and its employees into a bright future. "

Eugene Kaspersky is an adherent of a collegial, exclusively democratic leadership style with maximum delegation of powers. "In my opinion, all management of the company should be in defining strategy and objectives, prioritizing and monitoring results. I put everything else on the shoulders of the management team, in whose professionalism I have absolutely no doubt.' He considers the main principles of the company's work: "professionalism, honesty and loyalty to a partner and client."

2012: On cyber threats to Apple products

In an interview with Computer Business Review, taken during the London Info Security 2012 conference, Evgeny Kaspersky, founder and executive director of the company named after him, said that he Apple would have to radically revise the policy of responding to attacks from the outside. In malware particular, we are talking about the recently made a lot of noise for Trojan program MacOS X - Flashback. Kaspersky Lab employees jokingly call it Flashfake (from the aisle. fake - "deception, cunning, trick"), since malicious code infected over 600 thousand Mac platforms around the world, and the likelihood of infection remained for several more weeks.

Microsoft In an interview, Kaspersky says Apple is at least 10 years behind on security. "I have never stopped repeating for many years in a row that in terms of IT security Windows , there is no fundamental difference between Mac platforms. It has always been possible to develop malware ON for Mac. Flashback developers managed to create a slightly different kind of program - it does not offer to install the application on the system, but exploits vulnerabilities and gains access to user mode without any warnings. "

The problem faced by Apple should teach the company to proactively respond to threats, said the director of Kaspersky Lab. Flashback not only shook the theory about the invulnerability of the Mac platform, but also caused harsh criticism of Apple due to its belated reaction to the problem. The malicious application exploited a vulnerability in Java that Oracle had shut down two months earlier. However, Apple does not allow third-party developers to update the software, and the "proprietary" patch was released only in early April. By this time, the number of infected systems exceeded 600 thousand.

As Apple systems spread in the corporate segment and among ordinary users, the company will have to pay more attention to means of combating cyber criminals, because attacks will become more sophisticated, and Flashback is a clear confirmation of this.

Feedback from colleagues

"Man-brand" - this is how Sergey Girdin, president of the Marvell group of companies, briefly and capaciously characterizes Evgeny Kaspersky. No less bright epithets were chosen for him by the general director of "CROC" Boris Bobrovnikov: "Transnational monster...."

Family

Married by a second marriage. Two sons.

• The first wife is Natalya Kasperskaya.
• Son - Ivan Kaspersky.
• Son - Maxim Kaspersky.

In 1998, he divorced his first wife Natalya Kasperskaya. He has two sons from his first marriage. The eldest is Maxim, studied at the Faculty of Geography of Moscow State University. Younger - Ivan (born 1991) - at the Faculty of Computational Mathematics and Cybernetics of Moscow State University.

Later married a second time.

2011: Abduction of Ivan's son

On April 19, 2011, Ivan Kaspersky, the son of Yevgeny Kaspersky and Natalia Kaspersky, was kidnapped near the office of Infowatch, owned by his mother. According to Lifenews, the kidnappers demand a ransom of 3 million euros from Ivan's parents. Maxim works in Natalia Kaspersky's company as a programmer.

As it became known later, law enforcement officers named the Savelyev family, consisting of the head of the Nikolai family (born in 1949), his wife Lyudmila (born in 1947) and their son Nikolai (born in 1981), as the kidnappers of the 20-year-old son Yevgeny and Natalya Kaspersky. In addition to the Savelyev family, the group of kidnappers included two friends of Nikolai Jr. for 29-30 years each. Later it became known that it was about Alexei Ustimchuk (captain of the FSO) and Semyon Gromov.

It is known about the kidnappers that they are Muscovites, they took great care of dogs - two pets of the bourbul breed. Eyewitnesses claim that the mistress of the family was absorbed in caring for her four-legged friends. At the same time, the neighbors never noticed the thirst for profit in the Savelyev couple - they never shook. The father of the family drove an old Lexus, his son - in an ancient Mercedes, lived poorly, although they tried to do business, the MK newspaper reported. The family^[17].

According to the agency's source, the motive for the crime of Savelyev and their friends was the desire to pay off the ransom received for loans made in one of the banks.

The attackers searched for a potential victim for ransom on the Internet. Their choice fell on Ivan Kaspersky after they found his home and work addresses on his Vkontakte page.

At the same time, according to the Kommersant newspaper, the abduction was organized by a repeatedly convicted "professional criminal," and the attackers followed the young man for several months, choosing a scheme for committing a crime.

The interlocutors of LifeNews said that the abduction was carried out "unprofessionally." At about 8:15 am, Ivan was filmed by surveillance cameras in the Strogino metro station closest to his place of work, and at about 9 am the kidnappers forced him to call his relatives and transfer the conditions for a ransom of 3 million euros.

The second evidence of the unprofessionalism of the criminals, law enforcement officers called the content of the prisoner in the same house in the garden partnership "Grove" near Sergiev Posad, where they lived themselves.

• On the evening of April 21, 2011, LifeNews reported that a ransom was paid to Ivan Kaspersky's kidnappers, the amount of which was not disclosed. After the prisoner's release, law enforcement sources said the media had been misinformed to reassure the kidnappers.

In an interview with RSN, Natalya Kasperskaya said that her son was not tortured and kept in handcuffs locked in a bathhouse. The kidnappers constantly changed the phone numbers from which they made ransom calls. While law enforcement agencies were releasing the young man, she and her husband "sat on Petrovka in a separate room and waited for the kidnapper to call." On the last day, the criminal did not get in touch, and I. Kaspersky's parents found out that it was over, after the information appeared in the media.

"The criminals acted harshly, during telephone conversations there were no threats, except once, when the main attacker said that he did not want to take sin per capita, which was a signal that in general they could take any action," Kaspersky later said.

According to the official information of the Central Internal Affairs Directorate, Ivan Kaspersky was released from the hands of the kidnappers only on Sunday, April 24, 2011. By this time, his whereabouts had already been registered on a working mobile phone. Information about this was published by the official representative of the capital's police department Viktor Biryukov. According to law enforcement officers, Ivan Kaspersky's condition is "satisfactory."

According to official information from the police department, the release was carried out as a result of a military operation by the FSB, MUR and special forces. The operation in the area of ​ ​ Sergiev Posad "took place without a single shot."

The kidnappers were assigned a meeting to hand over the ransom in Moscow, where the full Savelyev family and one of their accomplices went. The vehicles they were driving were stopped to check documents and the attackers were detained.

At the same time, another capture group entered the territory of the garden farm, where the prisoner was kept. Ivan Kaspersky was discovered in the bathhouse building, where he was guarded by another accomplice of the Savelyev family.

At the same time, an Interfax source in law enforcement agencies reported that the kidnappers "were promised money, but at the time of transferring part of the required amount, an intermediary was first detained, and then several more accomplices in the crime."

In total, during the operation of the security forces, five alleged kidnappers were detained. Law enforcement officers did not disclose the names of the detainees, but reported that they included a possible organizer of the crime. According to the representative of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation Vladimir Markin, a criminal case was initiated on the fact of the abduction of Ivan Kaspersky under the articles "kidnapping" and "extortion."

'The crime was the real thing, my son was captured on the street, all the clothes and everything that was with him were taken away from him and changed into some kind of robe. He was held for five days, as far as I know, in handcuffs in a dark bath. He didn't even know how many days he'd spent there. Well, naturally, he lost weight, so now we are sending him to rest and fatten up, "Kaspersky said on April 27, 2011 in the program" Live "on the TV channel" Russia-1. "

Later, Yevgeny Kaspersky said that this incident directly affects the image of Russia, which seeks to be innovative. Evgeny Kaspersky thanked the special services and noted their professionalism. "I was really amazed by the professionalism that I saw in the actions of the workers of Lubyanka and Petrovka. Thank you so much to them, "he said.

Eugene Kaspersky wrote in his blog:

"The company quickly grew into one of the world's largest vendors, but I stayed in the good old days when all the people were brothers."

In his opinion, when abducting Ivan, the criminals used open data from social networks, he urged parents to make sure that children did not publish too much on the Internet.

Everything is not so simple, Ashmanov believes, because Ivan indicated the old address on social networks, this house has long been demolished. "I am sure that all the information for the performers was collected by customers, perhaps even one of their own, but the investigation did not go further than catching the kidnappers," Ashmanov complains. "They did not dig in the direction of the FSO officer, who was detained along with this gang." And there is no one else to dig. Kaspersky after the release of Ivan appealed to the Minister of Internal Affairs Rashid Nurgaliev with a request to reward seven officers who were directly involved in the release of their son. Awarded peculiar. All seven operatives have not been recertified, Ashmanov says. At 38 Petrovka, all Forbes questions related to kidnapping were refused to answer and redirected to the Investigative Committee of Russia. The request there remained unanswered.

Ashmanov does not exclude that the ultimate goal of the bandits was not a ransom at all. "I think they wanted to put pressure on Yevgeny Kaspersky or Natalia, the shareholders of Kaspersky Lab," he argues. "Perhaps we never heard the true demands."

On August 30, 2012, FSO captain Alexei Ustimchuk was sentenced to 4.5 years in prison in a maximum security colony for participating in the abduction of Ivan Kaspersky. The corresponding verdict was issued by the 94th garrison military court^[17].

The officer was accused under Part 2 of Article 126 (kidnapping) and Part 3 of Article 163 (extortion) of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, the prosecutor demanded that he be sentenced to five years in prison.

According to the investigation, the officer, wanting to enrich himself in kidnapping, entered into a conspiracy with accomplices (the case against them was separated into a separate proceeding). On their instructions, the accused purchased three foreign cars and 20 mobile phones with "impersonal contracts" of mobile telephone operators.

Savelyev Sr. pleaded guilty and took responsibility, saying in court that his wife was not aware of the preparation for the crime. According to him, he organized the abduction in order to spend the ransom received on treatment.

Interesting facts

"What a funny last name," a receptionist in a Madrid hotel wondered, peering into Kaspersky's passport. "We have an antivirus called that."

Links

• Evgeny Kaspersky: "I compare money with air"
• Eugene Kaspersky. Human and Antivirus
• 14 Kaspersky Eugene in Lentapedia
• Evgeny Kaspersky: I am fighting the world malware
• Kaspersky kept his "Laboratory" afloat
• Kaspersky became the hero of the soap opera
• Alexey Polikovsky Player Essay on Eugene Kaspersky
• Evgeny Kaspersky Forum at the Fan Club

Notes