Kaspersky releases ESG report for H2 2022-2023

Woburn, MA – May 17, 2024 – Kaspersky has released its new sustainability report for H2 2022 and 2023, revealing the key results of the company’s most recent sustainable development initiatives and projects. The report encompasses five strategic areas identified as the company's ESG priorities: safer cyberworld, future tech, safer planet, people empowerment, and ethics and transparency.

Pursuing its mission to build a safer world for more than 25 years, Kaspersky has been an active contributor to the creation of a more sustainable world not only by creating protection technologies, but also by investing in numerous ESG projects. In 2023, Kaspersky presented the company's first sustainability report, which was drafted in accordance with international GRI and SASB standards.

Building a safer cyberworld

Kaspersky plays a pivotal role in shaping a cyber resilient future by combating threats with our world-class security solutions and services. Operating in more than 200 countries and territories, Kaspersky gathers real-time intelligence from across the globe, dealing with an extensive array of security challenges in the threat landscape. These efforts result in the detection of 411,000 new malicious files every day. Overall, Kaspersky prevented more than 437 million cyberattacks during the reporting period.

One of the most serious threats to businesses of all sizes is ransomware. To protect organizations from this urgent threat, Kaspersky experts discovered 43 new ransomware families and more than 23,000 of its modifications throughout H2 2022 and 2023. In 2023, cybercriminals attempted more than 19,000 attacks against users, including 53,000 corporate users and about 6,000 users associated with small and medium-sized businesses.

Kaspersky researchers have also noted a steady increase in the number of stalkerware attacks − programs used to covertly monitor victims through their personal devices. In particular, Kaspersky security solutions detected more than 31,000 attacks on users worldwide. The victims of such attacks are most frequently women in abusive relationships. Kaspersky is working to address the issue of cyberstalking by partnering with non-profit organizations, industry experts, research companies, and government agencies around the world.

Implementing future tech

In addition to shielding organizations and users worldwide against notorious cyberthreats, Kaspersky is also taking another step towards the cyber resilient era, pioneering its Cyber Immunity approach in the IT industry. Leveraging its longstanding and successful experience, Kaspersky is creating cyber-physical systems that are secure by design: inherently safe and secure with no need for additional cybersecurity software or managing protection tools. During the reporting period, two Kaspersky solutions running on KasperskyOS — Kaspersky Secure Remote Workspace and Kaspersky Automotive Secure Gateway — received awards at the World Internet Conference in China in 2022.

As innovation is a crucial aspect of a company’s growth, Kaspersky has been constantly focused on developing new long-term cybersecurity technologies, filing patent applications in relevant areas. During the 2022–2023 reporting period, Kaspersky obtained 231 patents for its inventions. Additionally, while enhancing our products, the company actively participates in the development of the open-source movement. In 2022-2023 alone, Kaspersky published 20 open-source projects granting the entire developer community access to its technologies.

Reducing environmental impact

The packaging of goods accounts for about 40% of the total waste produced worldwide. Kaspersky is reducing the release of physical products, shifting to selling online licenses in an increasing number of regions. During the reporting period, the share of boxed products in Kaspersky’s B2C sales decreased from 11% to 7%. At the same time, the share of electronic licenses and POSA-cards in global sales is approaching 40% and will increase in the future. To further contribute to reducing the production of plastic packaging to minimize our environmental footprint, in August 2023, the company launched its “Retail to subscription” project to encourage customers to make e-purchases online rather than buying our products in retail shops.

Kaspersky cybersecurity products also contribute to reducing carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere. In 2022, Kaspersky's solutions detected over 200 million attempts to use people's devices to hide mining, exploiting the computing resources of victims’ gadgets. This threat consumes a significant amount of electricity. By protecting individuals from hidden mining, Kaspersky contributes to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, thereby preventing up to 3,000 tons of carbon dioxide pollution into the atmosphere. This is comparable to the annual emissions of 652 cars.

Empowering people

To contribute to both the professional and the personal growth of its staff members, the company provides internal and external training opportunities for all employees: enabling them to enroll in courses to develop business, sales, or personal skills, learn foreign languages, and apply for participation in external training courses and events. To further expand employee development opportunities, the expenditure on training and development in 2023 was increased by 13.5% year-on-year.

On the occasion of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities in 2022, Kaspersky launched an internal project named "The Boundaries that we are pushing,” dedicated to the professional and personal development of the company's employees with disabilities, aimed at destigmatizing the topic of inclusion in employment. In 2023, the project was further advanced with a Kaspersky website featuring new stories of Kaspersky colleagues with disabilities and those who are raising children with disabilities, encouraging open dialogue to remind people about the value of mutual support. Thus, the project was made public for the first time, facilitating open discussions to emphasize the importance of mutual support.

Nurturing an aware generation

It’s essential not just to shield against individuals cyberthreats, but also to educate and empower a new generation of secure online users. Kaspersky Academy, an educational project providing courses and workshops and sharing Kaspersky expertise, trained more than 8,000 students from all over the world between 2022 and 2023. Numerous universities joined the special program called Kaspersky Academy Alliance, integrating Kaspersky's expertise and cutting-edge technologies into student education. In 2023, the Cyber Generation training program was launched for students in Saudi Arabia, with over 90 talented young minds participating. The top three students were offered internships at Kaspersky's newly-opened office in Saudi Arabia.

Stepping up the company's efforts in fostering a digital environment that nurtures the well-being and development of the younger generation, Kaspersky launched the global Kids' Cyber Resilience Project, starting in the Asia-Pacific region. Through a series of workshops, seminars, panel discussions, and interactive training sessions under the initiative, nearly one thousand educators and students from over 120 academic institutions in various countries have been positively impacted. As a multi-stakeholder venture, Kaspersky partnered with The HEAD Foundation, the Coalition Against Bullying for Children & Youth (CABCY), the ISAC Foundation, government agencies, and state schools to help children build digital resilience.

To help parents introduce their children to cybersecurity amidst the evolving threat landscape the company experts introduced the first Kaspersky Cybersecurity Alphabet, a fun and interactive book that teaches kids how to recognize fraudsters’ tricks and learn the importance of staying safe online.

Being open and transparent

Throughout the reporting period, the Kaspersky Global Transparency Initiative celebrated its five-year anniversary and continued its development, arriving in the Middle East and Africa, with Kaspersky Transparency Centers opened in Saudi Arabia and Rwanda. From H2 2022 to 2023, Transparency Centers were also opened in Italy and the Netherlands, serving as facilities for trusted partners to review of the company's code, software updates and threat detection rules.  In October 2023, at the Internet Governance Forum, held under the auspices of the United Nations (UN), Kaspersky also presented its ethical principles for the development and use of machine learning-based systems created within the framework of the GTI. These and other developments are reflected in a special interactive project about the company’s GTI.

“Sustainability is a fundamental pillar helping businesses make socially conscious sound decisions, gaining the trust of investors, government institutions, and customers,” said Maria Losyukova, head of ESG & sustainability at Kaspersky. “At Kaspersky, we understand that our actions today have a profound impact on tomorrow's world. That is why we're dedicated to not only mitigating cyber risks but also driving positive change, fostering a better future for all through collaboration, innovation, and responsible business practices.”

The full report is available at https://esg.kaspersky.com/en 

About Kaspersky

Kaspersky is a global cybersecurity and digital privacy company founded in 1997. With over a billion devices protected to date from emerging cyberthreats and targeted attacks, Kaspersky’s deep threat intelligence and security expertise is constantly transforming into innovative solutions and services to protect businesses, critical infrastructure, governments and consumers around the globe. The company’s comprehensive security portfolio includes leading endpoint protection, specialized security products and services, as well as Cyber Immune solutions to fight sophisticated and evolving digital threats. We help over 220,000 corporate clients protect what matters most to them. Learn more at www.kaspersky.com.