The Gately Report: Kaspersky Fighting Anti-Russian Sentiment Due to War in Ukraine

The war in Ukraine has created challenges for Kaspersky because it’s based in Moscow, but says it has no ties to the Russian government.

It’s also helping businesses in Russia stay secure in the aftermath of U.S.-based cybersecurity firms pulling out of the country in response to the war. That’s according to Rob Cataldo, Kaspersky’s managing director of North America.

Kaspersky’s Ron Cataldo

“We have to fight, as you might expect, because we’re originated there, although we have nothing to do with the Russian government itself,” he said. ” In fact, we’ve produced many Russian-speaking advanced persistent threat (APT) reports that talk about all of the implications for those types of threats, what they did, what types of language they speak, etc. So we have nothing to do with the Russian state itself. Here, we have to fight certainly strong anti-Russian sentiments about anything Russian, which is completely understandable based on on what’s happening.”

Professional Cybercriminal Gangs Surging

According to The National, Kaspersky CEO Eugene Kaspersky said the number of “highly professional” cybercriminal gangs has surged to about 900 from about a dozen five years ago, with most engaged in state-sponsored espionage.

“Within Russia itself, there’s actually been a lot of U.S. cybersecurity providers and other providers who have left the country,” Cataldo said. “So it actually creates different opportunities for the Kaspersky Russian team because there are gaps in the security landscape that didn’t exist once that now do exist. So they’re trying to develop to that end and fill the need that exists because there are companies there that still obviously need to be secured.”

Last month, Kaspersky unveiled new United Partner Program enhancements, including a revised rebate system, extended training courses and more rewards for MSPs. This change allows rebates to become more transparent and predictable, and covers more Kaspersky products and services.

Kaspersky has over 100,000 partners globally, including over 500 in North America.

“Lately we haven’t received much feedback in the way of having to make major changes, which I see as a good thing because it sounds like we are being a good manufacturer, a good partner to many of our VARs and our large-area resellers,” Cataldo said. “But I know what partners can continue to expect is really a commitment on educating our partners to be the trusted advisors that they want to be, who focus on the areas that drive the most impact for their customers in terms of their security posture.”

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