Saving the cyber-world

Cybercrime is a global issue. It’s borderless, and cyberspace remains unregulated, isolated and fragmented. On top of that, international legislation is severely underdeveloped, with countries responding to malware attacks by closing their doors and putting up both geopolitical and regulatory barriers. ‘More than 30 countries have their own cyberwarfare division,’ explains Oleg Abdurashitov, Kaspersky Lab’s Head of Public Affairs for Asia Pacific. ‘These are people developing cyber-weapons, malware, pieces of code designed to cause damage. We’re dealing with code designed by military divisions.’ In today’s connected, technology-driven world, the safety of our online life is at risk. And to move from an era of cybersecurity to cyber-immunity, means citizens, companies and countries need to collaborate and cooperate. ‘Cybersecurity cannot exist without a solid basis of trust,’ elaborates Eugene Kaspersky. ‘We want to make the cyber-world safer.’ As part of its new Global Transparency Initiative (GTI), the Russian security company has opened up its source code for anyone to review, with the goal of worldwide collaboration and shared intelligence. To encourage hacktivists, the GTI has included a bug bounty programme where anyone who finds a major vulnerability can walk away with up to $100 000. ‘Finding and fixing bugs is a priority for us as a software company. The immunity of our code and highest levels of protection that we offer customers is a core principle of our business – and a fundamental pillar of our Global Transparency Initiative,’ ends Kaspersky.

Eugene Kaspersky