TECH

Kaspersky Lab switches weapons and luggage to Switzerland

In a time when links to Russia are viewed with suspicion, especially as regards cybersecurity, being a Russian company dedicated to combating and preventing cybercrime does not convey much confidence to its customers. This was probably the conclusion reached by Kaspersky Lab and decided to move its main research infrastructure from Russia to Zurich, Switzerland.This measure serves to alleviate the mistrust present in some governments, which had already taken measures to prevent the operations of the specialist. In September last year, for example, the United States Department of Homeland Security declared a ban on the use of Kaspersky software by its government agencies and services, alleging suspicions of cyberspace from Russia through the company. Just yesterday, the Reuteurs agency was advancing with the news that the Dutch Minister of Justice had taken similar steps, advising companies to follow the path of removing their Kaspersky-based antivirus solutions because they felt that the Russian company would be obliged to defend the interests of his country.

In order to "clean" its name and ensure the integrity and reliability of its products, the company had advanced with the Transparency Global initiative in October 2017. Among the several points defined, the opening of the first Transparency Center was a priority. Zurich is the chosen destination for the transfer of storage and data processing centers from various regions, such as Europe, North America, Australia, Japan, Singapore and South Korea, with other countries to be included.In this Transparency Center, which is due to start operating in late 2019, the software assembling systems and their updates with the detection of new cyber threats will also be reallocated. All the programming tools used to build and assemble the software with the base code, as well as the products and databases with the company's threat detection rules will have a digital signature from Switzerland, before sending it to scattered customers the world.



The source code for all products, as well as their updates, are now audited by an independent organization. A third, independent and qualified entity will oversee and perform technical product reviews. This organization will be created with the support of Kaspersky Lab and will not be for profit and can be consulted and requested by any other partner.
These measures are intended to restore the "good name" of Kaspersky Lab to the trust of its customers, while increasing the transparency of its services. The company had already reiterated that its mission was to help governments and police fight against cybercrime and not to promote or support any cyberspace initiative.

Sapo