Kaspersky Lab Recognized as a "Rising Star" for Outstanding U.S. Distribution & Sales

GTDC’s sixth annual “Rising Star” awards honor technology companiesfor effectively leveraging distribution partnerships to drive performance

Woburn, MA – September 21, 2011 –Kaspersky Lab, a leading developer of secure content and threat management solutions, was selected from hundreds of technology vendors yesterday as a Silver recipient of the Global Technology Distribution Council’s (GTDC) “Rising Star” award.

Kaspersky Lab was recognized for its ability to forge strong partnerships with technology distributors and produce exceptional results, and was selected for the award based on its strong performance in the software category for year-over-year U.S. revenue growth through distributors. Understanding and leveraging distribution partners’ expertise, reach and infrastructure has been one of the cornerstones of Kaspersky Lab’s success. Partners are, and continue to be, invaluable to Kaspersky Lab’s ability to execute and deliver outstanding growth through its channels.

The GTDC, a worldwide industry association dedicated to defining and promoting the role of the wholesale technology distribution industry, presented the awards last night as part of its annual Vendor Summit event, held this year at the Fairmont Hotel in Newport Beach, Sept. 20-21.

 Methodology

Sales figures that determine “Rising Star” award winners are based on the past year’s actual U.S. revenue as calculated by industry research organization The NPD Group using its Distributor Track® service. To be eligible for a Rising Star award, vendors are required to have sold corresponding products through IT distributors for a minimum of one year. Categories include: 

• $500 million or more in U.S. distribution sales/highest year-over-year revenue growth
• $100 - $500 million in U.S. distribution sales/highest year-over-year revenue growth
• $25 million - $100 million  in U.S. distribution sales/highest year-over-year revenue growth
• Software publishers with sales of at least $20 million/highest year-over-year revenue growth

Quotes:

Nancy Reynolds, Senior Vice President of Corporate Sales, Americas

“We are very honored to accept this award and will continue to strive for ingenuity as we build our partner eco-system. This award is indicative of our explosive growth in new business and unwavering commitment to our 100% channel model.  For 14 consecutive years, Kaspersky Lab has been dedicated to addressing and meeting the needs of our partners and customers.  Beyond offering enhanced technology solutions, we create customized programs that continuously augment and enrich our partnerships. Most importantly, this award illustrates that our programs and channel teams are here to resource our partners so they can grow and expand their business too.”

About Kaspersky Lab

Kaspersky Lab is the world's largest privately-held Internet Security company, providing comprehensive protection against all forms of IT threats such as viruses, spyware, hackers and spam. The company's products provide in-depth computer defense for more than 300 million systems around the globe, including home and mobile users, small and medium sized businesses and large enterprises. Kaspersky technology is also incorporated inside the products and services of nearly 100 of industry leading IT, networking, communications and applications solution vendors.

For further information about the company, please visit http://www.kaspersky.com/. Friend us on Facebook and follow @Kaspersky on Twitter.

For the latest in-depth information on security threat issues and trends, please visit http://www.securelist.com/. Follow @Securelist on Twitter.

 About The NPD Group, Inc.

The NPD Group is the leading provider of reliable and comprehensive consumer and retail information for a wide range of industries. Today, more than 1,800 manufacturers, retailers, and service companies rely on NPD to help them drive critical business decisions at the global, national, and local market levels. NPD helps our clients to identify new business opportunities and guide product development, marketing, sales, merchandising, and other functions. Information is available for the following industry sectors: automotive, beauty, commercial technology, consumer technology, entertainment, fashion, food and beverage, foodservice, home, office supplies, software, sports, toys, and wireless. For more information on The NPD Group and Distributor Track, visit www.npd.com.

About The Global Technology Distribution Council

The Global Technology Distribution Council (GTDC) is a worldwide industry association dedicated to defining and promoting the role of wholesale distribution in a successful and healthy information technology channel. The Council is comprised of the computer industry’s top wholesale distributors dedicated to serving “the channel,” a network of skilled value-added resellers and retail stores focused on providing hardware, software, and services to businesses and consumers around the globe. AB S.A (WSE: ABPL), ABC Data, ALSO-Actebis (SIX: ALSN), Arrow Electronics (NYSE: ARW), Avnet (NYSE: AVT), Computer Gross Italia, Computerlinks, Altimate Group/DCC SerCom, D&H, Esprinet (PRT.MI), Ingram Micro (NYSE: IM), Intcomex, Magirus AG, Officer Distribuidora, Redington (BSE: REDI), SiS Technologies (HKSE: 0529), ScanSource (NASDAQ:SCSC), SYNNEX (NYSE: SNX), Tech Data (NASDAQ: TECD), 20:20 Mobile Group, Westcoast LTD and Westcon.

Press/Analyst Contacts:

Kaspersky Lab

Nicole Lawler

781.503.5232

nicole.lawler@kaspersky.com

GTDC

Lynette Bohanan |CommCentric Solutions Inc.

813-727-0196

lbohanan@commcentric.com