Kaspersky to open first Transparency Center in APAC

In line with its drive towards building trust in the cybersecurity industry, Kaspersky today announces the opening of its first Transparency Center in Asia Pacific, in partnership with CyberSecurity Malaysia – Malaysia’s national cybersecurity specialist agency. The company’s third code review facility will be located in Cyberjaya, alongside key cyber-related government agencies and companies in the country.

Like its counterparts in Zurich and Madrid, the Transparency Center in Malaysia will serve as a trusted facility for the company’s partners and government stakeholders to come and check the source code of Kaspersky’s solutions. The new center will also function as a briefing center where guests will be able to learn more about Kaspersky’s engineering and data processing practices.

Yeo Siang Tiong, General Manager for Southeast Asia at Kaspersky; Anton Shingarev, Vice President for Public Affairs at Kaspersky; Lieutenant Colonel Mustaffa Bin Ahmad (Retired), Senior Vice President for Outreach & Capacity Building at CyberSecurity Malaysia; Dato’ Ts. Dr. Amirudin Abdul Wahab, CEO at CyberSecurity Malaysia; Eugene Kaspersky, CEO at Kaspersky; and Stephan Neumeier, Managing Director for Asia Pacific at Kaspersky.

Government regulators and enterprise clients of Kaspersky can request to review the company’s solutions and services including threat analysis, secure review, and the application security testing process. They can also review the source code of Kaspersky’s flagship consumer and enterprise solutions – Kaspersky Internet Security (KIS); Kaspersky Endpoint Security (KES), and Kaspersky Security Center (KSC), which is a console for the company’s business products.

As well as these, stakeholders can also review all versions of Kaspersky’s builds and AV-database updates as well the information the company processes such as data feeds from Kaspersky products that are sent to the cloud-based Kaspersky Security Network (KSN). Access to the Transparency Center is available upon request. More information on how Kaspersky Transparency Centers work is available on the website.

Commenting on the opening, Eugene Kaspersky, CEO of Kaspersky, said: “It’s great to be here in Kuala Lumpur – in the heart of the Asia-Pacific region – to announce the opening of our third Transparency Center. Here we intend to show customers and government stakeholders that our products are 100% trustworthy and ensure the highest level of cybersecurity protection. The launch also proves that the activities we planned under our pioneering Global Transparency Initiative remain on track.”

“We are excited to unlock the doors of this digital hub to let users experience the services and capabilities of Kaspersky’s cybersecurity technology here in our region. As a paradigm shift for the cybersecurity industry, this facility - the first in the region - will be located in Cyberjaya, all thanks to the kind cooperation of CyberSecurity Malaysia. We are grateful for their trust and commitment towards us as this third-party validation proves that private companies and public agencies can team-up to better protect users from cybercrime,” comments Stephan Neumeier, Managing Director for Asia Pacific at Kaspersky.

The new center is being opened as part of the company’s Global Transparency Initiative – a brainchild of Kaspersky which aims to address the growing demand from partners and government stakeholders for more information on how its products and technologies work. The center will open for its first visitors early next year.

Exchanging the token of appreciation to Dato’ Ts. Dr. Amirudin Abdul Wahab, CEO at CyberSecurity Malaysia from Eugene Kaspersky, CEO at Kaspersky

Meanwhile Dato’ Ts. Dr. Amirudin Abdul Wahab, CEO of CyberSecurity Malaysia said, “As the threat landscape continues to evolve in Malaysia and in the region, we believe that it is crucial for private companies such as Kaspersky and government agencies to build trust and mutual cooperation. Kaspersky’s willingness to open their doors and data processes further shows that they have nothing to hide. As a third-party entity, we also share their insights and concerns to make the cybersecurity industry better. We really hope that our partnership will be an example for more governments and private entities in exercising fairness and transparency for the benefit of our citizens and the cybersecurity industry.”

Since the company’s announcement in October 2017, Kaspersky’s Global Transparency Initiative has been demonstrating good progress. In particular, the company:

·        Started relocating customer data storage and processing infrastructure for European users from Russia to Zurich, Switzerland, to be completed by the end of 2019.

·        Opened two Transparency Centers in Europe – in Zurich (November 2018) and Madrid (June 2019). The Spanish Center also serves as a briefing center for key company stakeholders.

·        Successfully completed the Service Organization Control for Service Organizations (SOC 2) Type 1 audit. The final report, issued by one of the Big Four accounting firms, confirms that the development and release of Kaspersky’s threat detection rules databases (AV databases) are protected from unauthorized changes by strong security controls. To learn more and to request the Kaspersky SOC 2 Type 1 Report, please visit the website.

·         Has been developing its Bug Bounty program. Since the announcement of the program’s extension, the company resolved 66 bugs reported by security researchers and awarded almost $45,000 in bounty rewards. The company also supports the Disclose.io framework which provides Safe Harbor for vulnerability researchers concerned about potential negative legal consequences of their discoveries.

Learn more about Kaspersky transparency principles and the Global Transparency Initiative here: www.kaspersky.com/about/transparency

About Kaspersky

Kaspersky is a global cybersecurity company founded in 1997. Kaspersky’s deep threat intelligence and security expertise is constantly transforming into innovative security solutions and services to protect businesses, critical infrastructure, governments and consumers around the globe. The company’s comprehensive security portfolio includes leading endpoint protection and a number of specialized security solutions and services to fight sophisticated and evolving digital threats. Over 400 million users are protected by Kaspersky technologies and we help 270,000 corporate clients protect what matters most to them. Learn more at www.kaspersky.com.

About CyberSecurity Malaysia

CyberSecurity Malaysia is the national cybersecurity specialist agency under the purview of the Ministry of Communications and Multimedia Malaysia (KKMM). CyberSecurity Malaysia is committed to providing a broad range of cybersecurity innovation-led services, programmes and initiatives to help reduce the vulnerability of digital systems, while at the same time strengthening Malaysia’s self-reliance in cyberspace.

For more information, please visit http://www.cybersecurity.my. For general inquiries, please email info@cybersecurity.my. Find out more at www.facebook.com/CyberSecurityMalaysia and www.twitter.com/cybersecuritymy.