(China)
(Japan)
(Korea)
Eugene Kaspersky
CEO and Co-Founder, Kaspersky Lab
Eugene Kaspersky was born in 1965 in the southwestern Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk. Fascinated by mathematics at school, aged 12 to 15 he would often win mathematical problem-solving contests published in technical journals. These early victories inspired him to later attend extracurricular classes in advanced math and physics in a special program organized by the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology.
In 1987, Eugene graduated from the Institute of Cryptography, Telecommunications and Computer Science, where he majored in mathematical engineering.
After graduating, Eugene started work at a Ministry of Defense research institute. He first began studying computer viruses after detecting the Cascade virus on his computer in 1989. Eugene analyzed the virus and developed a disinfection utility for it - the first of many.
In 1991, Eugene moved to the KAMI Information Technologies Center, which traded in computers and other equipment. Here, he and a group of colleagues developed the Anti-Viral Toolkit Pro (AVP) project, which became the prototype for Kaspersky Anti-Virus. International recognition of the project arrived in 1994, when the virtually unknown AVP won a contest conducted by Hamburg University’s test lab, demonstrating a higher virus detection rate than the most popular antivirus programs at the time.
Come November 1992, the team’s first full-fledged product – AVP 1.0 – was released. The same year also saw Kaspersky and friends take part in their first foreign IT exhibition - CeBIT in Germany (at which, later, Kaspersky Lab would have a stand every year since its foundation).
By 1996, more and more foreign firms were coming to the AVP project to license unique expert know-how, and in 1997, Eugene and team founded their own company - Kaspersky Lab. In 1998 they released nine products and overhauled the antivirus engine. The company was also growing geographically: the first foreign representative office – Kaspersky Labs UK, in Cambridge – was opened in 1999, seen as a significant milestone in the company’s history.
In the 2000s the business developed rapidly - in terms of both complexity and geography: the year 2003 saw the opening of one regional office after another all around the world - Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Japan and China. By 2009 the company had a presence also in Poland, the Netherlands, Sweden, Romania, the USA, South Korea and Australia.
In 2007, Eugene became the CEO of Kaspersky Lab. Besides running Kaspersky Lab, he still participates in key technological discussions within the company.
Today, Eugene spreads the word around the world about growing cyber threats while pushing for international cooperation in fighting them.
Eugene holds numerous national and international awards for his long track record of technological, scientific, and business achievements. Notable among hundreds of honors and awards are:
- Honorary Doctor, Plymouth University, UK - 2012
- Member of “The Top 10 Innovators Of 2011”, CRN - 2011
- Outstanding Contribution to Business Award, CEO Middle East - 2011
- World’s Most Powerful Security Exec, SYS-CON Media - 2011
- CEO of the Year, SC Magazine - 2010
- Lifetime Achievement Award, Virus Bulletin - 2010
- Strategic Brand Leadership Award, World Brand Congress - 2010
- State Prize of the Russian Federation - 2009
- National Friendship Award of China - 2009
