Kaspersky Lab and Mensa Help Challenge Alertness with the Global Think Test

Woburn, MA – August 22, 2014 -Kaspersky Lab and Mensa invite Internet users to take the Global Think Test challenge, a series of online brain games and meant to test the combination and calculation skills of participants. September 6, 2014 is Global Think Test Day and a global competition will be held, offering a grand prize of $25,000. The Global Think Test challenge aims to increase awareness of the fact that rationality and reason are two of the best weapons against many cyberthreats.

According to a recent Kaspersky Lab survey, 29 percent of participants worldwide play online games. Additionally, Professor Frank Schwab, media psychologist at University of Wuerzburg in Germany states, “being in some sort of ‘gaming mode’ means triple impact: cognitive and emotional processes are affected, leading to behavioral effects. Gaming may elicit strong emotions that may influence cognitions and finally behaviors within and even beyond the game.”

Psychologists would also say there are a few general aspects that make us fall prey to cybercriminals who use social engineering strategies, including the limitation of our cognitive resources. “We are not godlike creatures. Thus, we are not able to discern and evaluate every detailed piece of information in a complex situation. If the amount of information we have to process simultaneously is too high, the possibility of making mistakes and performing worse increases,” says Schwab. “We are simply not able to consider all the information given and to reflect about all the possible outcomes, especially under time pressure. And no one lives forever. As a result, we have to tend to mental shortcuts.”

Still our brains are not used to interaction with digital devices, which could make it easier for criminals to create situations in which we might make wrong decisions. Threats are evolving and it becomes more and more difficult for people to quickly decide if a website is fake or real. As a result, it is important for people to challenge their cognitive thinking in various ways that will help improve their ability to quickly decide if a situation is dangerous or not. The Global Think Test was designed to give participants challenges that require decision making under time pressure.

“The brain games which were developed together with Mensa are designed to make us aware of the fact that we are often not paying enough attention to detail,” says Alexander Erofeev, Chief Marketing Officer, Kaspersky Lab. “In today’s online world it is becoming more and more important to develop a kind of digital risk literacy. Part of this is to be alert and recognize threats when we encounter them. Training this in a playful way is one of the aims of this Global Think Test Challenge, because developing these skills is as important for staying safe as installing security software.”

About the Global Think Test

The Global Think Test website is packed with all sorts of brain-training games, puzzles and IQ tests to help participants flex their mental muscles.

Kaspersky Lab teamed up with Mensa to develop a series of challenging combinatory online games and riddles. Partners like Scuderia Ferrari and cricket-legend Sachin Tendulkar are running special contests in which participants can win a signed pair of racing gloves from Fernando Alonso and Kimi Räikkönen or a signed Sachin cricket bat.

September 6, 2014 is Global Think Test Day, when a worldwide online challenge invites all participants to put their brainpower to the ultimate test and go head-to-head with some of the best brains in the world. The winner of this challenge will become the Kaspersky Global Think Test Champion and win the grand prize worth US $25,000 in cash. The name of the winner will be announced on September 9, 2014.

All Global Think Test content is in English, but the competition is open to participants from all over the world.

You can find more information about the Global Think Test on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and share your best moments with the hashtag #GTT.

To register for the Global Think Test Day visit the website – http://www.globalthinktest.com

About Kaspersky Lab
Kaspersky Lab is the world’s largest privately held vendor of endpoint protection solutions. The company is ranked among the world’s top four vendors of security solutions for endpoint users*. Throughout its more than 17-year history Kaspersky Lab has remained an innovator in IT security and provides effective digital security solutions for large enterprises, SMBs and consumers. Kaspersky Lab, with its holding company registered in the United Kingdom, currently operates in almost 200 countries and territories across the globe, providing protection for over 300 million users worldwide. Learn more at www.kaspersky.com.

Media Contact
Sarah Bergeron
sarah.bergeron@kaspersky.com
781-503-2615

* The company was rated fourth in the IDC rating Worldwide Endpoint Security Revenue by Vendor, 2012. The rating was published in the IDC report "Worldwide Endpoint Security 2013–2017 Forecast and 2012 Vendor Shares (IDC #242618, August 2013). The report ranked software vendors according to earnings from sales of endpoint security solutions in 2012.