software security software founded moscow russia 1997 ; 19 years ago 1997 founder eugene kaspersky headquarters moscow russia area served worldwide key people eugene kaspersky ceo products kaspersky anti virus kaspersky internet security kaspersky internet security for android kaspersky pure kaspersky total security kaspersky security for business integrated security revenue us 619 million 2015 1 number of employees 3 000 2015 2 website www.kaspersky.com kaspersky lab k sp rski ; russian laboratoriya kasperskogo is an international software security group operating in almost 200 countries and territories worldwide . the company is headquartered in moscow russia with its holding company registered in the united kingdom . kaspersky lab currently employs over 2 850 qualified specialists . it has 31 representative territory offices in 30 countries and its products and technologies provide service for over 300 million users and over 250 000 corporate clients worldwide . the company is specially focused on large enterprises and small and medium sized businesses . contents 1 overview 2 competitors 3 history 4 products 5 independent assessments 6 partnerships 7 litigation 8 controversy 9 discoveries 9.1 flame malware 9.2 equation group 9.3 other malware discovered by kaspersky 10 patents 11 see also 12 references 13 external links overview edit kaspersky virlab . september 18 2014 kaspersky lab offers consumer security products such as anti virus anti malware and firewall applications in addition to security systems designed for small business corporations and large enterprises . corporate solutions include protection for workstations file servers mail servers payment gateways banking servers mobile devices and internet gateways 3 managed through a centralized administration kit . these applications are also available in bundled security suites 4 scaled to fit the requirements of organizations of varying sizes . kaspersky lab ranks fourth in the global ranking of antivirus vendors . 5 it was the first russian company to be included into the rating of the world s leading software companies called the software top 100 79th on the list as of 6 29 2012 . kaspersky lab is ranked 4th in endpoint security segment according to idc data for 2010 . 6 according to gartner kaspersky lab is currently the third largest vendor of consumer it security software worldwide and the fifth largest vendor of enterprise endpoint protection . kaspersky lab has been named a leader in the gartner magic quadrant for endpoint protection platforms . 7 competitors edit kaspersky lab competes in the antivirus industry against avast avg avira bitdefender bullguard eset f secure frisk g data mcafee panda security sophos symantec and trend micro among others . history edit the first product kaspersky anti virus was released by eugene kaspersky in the middle of 1997 . 8 in 2006 kaspersky lab was ranked as the fastest growing internet security software within the united states 9 based on npd group sales data . products edit this section contains content that is written like an advertisement . please help improve it by removing promotional content and inappropriate external links and by adding encyclopedic content written from a neutral point of view . january 2016 learn how and when to remove this template message home screen of kaspersky internet security kaspersky total security is the company s most comprehensive pc security product to date and adds further to the features in internet security . kaspersky anti virus is an anti virus anti malware and anti phishing application for microsoft windows with no network based protection or firewall features . 10 kaspersky internet security is an integrated suite of protection tools for internet users on microsoft windows that protects against viruses spyware phishing email spam rootkits advertisement banners and network based attacks . 11 it also contains a full featured firewall to control network access of individual applications . kaspersky internet security for android is an integrated suite of protection tools for internet users on android mobile devices that protects against viruses and malware attacks . 12 it contains special features for mobile users such as anti theft protection remote device locking and geo location and remote data wiping . 12 kaspersky internet security for mac is an anti virus and anti malware application for mac os x computers that protects against viruses trojans worms spyware and adware . 13 it also blocks network based attacks . kaspersky endpoint security is an integrated digital security solution for businesses that protects devices running microsoft windows mac os x or linux from malware and other threats . 14 it is centrally controlled from an online management console and its client applications are designed for both desktop and server devices . 14 it contains features for remote administration remote deployment and includes strong cryptography for data encryption with file level encryption fle and full disk encryption fde . 14 it contains special features for mobile devices allows separation of corporate data and personal data and includes anti theft features . 14 kaspersky password manager securely stores entered password data and automatically logs users onto known websites . it also automatically fills in web forms using a learning algorithm and synchronizes password data across multiple user devices . 15 a free version is available for up to 15 passwords . securelist.com is a computer security portal run by kaspersky lab that is devoted to educating the general public about different aspects of internet security . it hosts a virus encyclopedia which provides information about various types of computer malware . kaspersky security for mail server is an anti malware and anti spam application that resides on a mail server . it provides protection by removing harmful email or attachments before they get to an endpoint such as a phone desktop client or webmail service . 16 independent assessments edit the anti virus software testing group av comparatives gave the windows xp version of kaspersky av an advanced rating its highest in both its february 2008 on demand detection test with the fourth highest detection rate among 16 products tested . 17 however in the retrospective proactive test may 2008 kaspersky received the standard rating detecting 21 % of new malware with 1 month old signatures and receiving a substantial amount of false positives . 18 the firewall included in kaspersky internet security 7.0 got a very good rating in matousec s firewall challenge 19 with a result of 85 % . kaspersky anti virus 7.0 has achieved a 6.5 result out of 8 in the anti malware labs rootkit detection test . 20 it has also achieved a 31 out of 33 detection of polymorphic viruses 21 and a 97 % result in the self protection test . 22 in 2007 kaspersky internet security 7 received an award from the british magazine pc pro and also won a place in its a list . 23 kaspersky has passed most of virus bulletin comparative tests since august 2003 failing 8 of 54 tests . 24 in 2005 according to pc world magazine kaspersky anti virus software provided the fastest updates for new virus and security threats in the industry . 25 in pc world magazine s march 2010 comparison of consumer security suites kaspersky internet security 2010 scored 4.5 5 stars and was rated second overall . 26 in the december of 2011 version of av comparatives annual reports kaspersky lab s software has achieved highest overall ranking and has earned the av comparatives product of the year award . 27 on 1 february 2012 the kaspersky internet security has earned av test award for best repair 2011 award in the field of home user products from av test institute . 28 on 28 january 2013 the kaspersky endpoint security has earned av test award for best protection 2012 and av test award for best repair 2012 awards in the field of corporate products from av test institute . 29 later in 2013 kaspersky earned the product of the year award from av comparatives and the highest score among enterprise solutions in a dennis technology labs report . 30 31 kaspersky has also received certification of their products through the oesis ok certification program which verifies that the applications are interoperable with third party technology solutions like nac and ssl vpn products from cisco systems juniper networks f5 networks and others . 32 partnerships edit the kaspersky anti virus engine also powers products or solutions by other security vendors such as check point bluecoat juniper networks microsoft forefront 33 netintelligence clearswift frontbridge netasq wedge networks and others . altogether more than 120 companies are licensing technology from kaspersky lab . kaspersky lab also has a number of partnerships with various technology companies . the international multilateral partnership against cyber threats where datuk mohd noor amin acts as the chairman announced the appointment of harry cheung managing director of kaspersky lab apac as the goodwill ambassador for greater china . 34 kaspersky lab runs several global sponsorships for example the scuderia ferrari racing team 35 36 and geographical expeditions . 37 litigation edit in may 2007 adware distributor zango filed a lawsuit against kaspersky lab accusing it of trade libel for blocking the installation of zango software . in august the court 38 ruled that the communications decency act granted immunity to kaspersky . 39 kaspersky has been active in defending itself against so called patent trolls . 40 controversy edit in march 2015 bloomberg accused kaspersky of having close ties to russian military and intelligence officials . in 2007 the company itself claimed in its japanese ad campaign with the slogan a specialist in cryptography from kgb . the sales tactic a local partner s idea was quickly removed by headquarters . 41 however kaspersky himself graduated from the fsb academy formerly a kgb institution . 42 kaspersky slammed the claims in his blog calling the coverage sensationalist and guilty of exploiting paranoia to increase readership but did not state clearly whether these claims are true or not . 43 in august 2015 reuters published a report citing two anonymous ex employees accusing kaspersky of intentionally creating fake malware signatures in an effort to trick competitors into categorizing clean files as malicious . according to the anonymous sources the signatures were created for over a decade with an increase in activity from 2010 many of which allegedly uploaded to virustotal . 44 kaspersky lab denied the allegations ; 45 46 on his personal blog eugene kaspersky compared the accusations to unsubstantiated conspiracy theory . 47 reuters followed up by publishing leaked emails allegedly from kaspersky alluding to falsies and rubbing out international competitors ; kaspersky labs stated the emails may not be legitimate and were obtained from anonymous sources that have a hidden agenda . 48 discoveries edit flame malware edit main article flame malware in may 2012 kaspersky lab identified the malware flame which a researcher described as potentially the most sophisticated cyber weapon yet unleashed . 49 according to the researchers in kaspersky lab the malware had infected an estimated 1 000 to 5 000 machines worldwide 50 51 when asked by the united nations international telecommunications union to investigate reports of a virus affecting iranian oil ministry computers . 52 as kaspersky lab investigated they discovered an md5 hash and filename that appeared only on customer machines from middle eastern nations . after discovering more pieces researchers dubbed the program flame after the name of one of its modules . 52 equation group edit main article equation group at the kaspersky security analysts summit held in mexico on february 16 2015 kaspersky lab announced its discovery of the equation group . according to kaspersky lab s report the group has been active since at least 2001 with more than 60 actors . the malware used in their operations dubbed equationdrug and grayfish is found to be capable of reprogramming hard disk drive firmware . because of the advanced techniques involved and high degree of covertness the group is suspected of ties to the nsa but kaspersky lab has been unable to identify the actors behind the