A Business Mecca Through The Eyes Of A Tourist.

Davos (and if you’re really with it, the stress will be on the second syllable).

What do people who follow the news know about this place? Yes, only from the news! Davos…forum, economics, politics, anti-globalization, police. The place bursts to life like a geyser on Kamchatka – not very often, but when it does, you know about it.

Davos

Well, I was here too. For the first two days as a tourist, then things get a bit more serious…

Read more: It’s a small mountain hamlet!

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Cyber-Thriller, ver. 2011

Costin Raiu, one of our top generals in the war against malware, recently published an interesting post on the ten most significant events in the security field in 2011. I liked it; and the idea of a top-ten; so much so I decided to come up with my own. It mostly matches Costin’s report, but somehow this is a slightly different view. It’s not just regarding the past year – it’s a little broader: tendencies in the security market and about security in general. An “unofficial”, non-hoity-toity view of the important stuff – both that’s with us now, or that will be soon…

And so here’s my top-ten:

1. Hacktivism
2. Militarization of the Internet and Cyber Weapons
3. Social Networks and Politics
4. The Duqu Cyber-Bomb
5. Widely Publicized Hacks and Industrial Espionage
6. Certification Authorities: the Beginning of the End
7. Cybercrime: as Romantic as Sewage
8. Android Malware
9. Mac Malware
10. Intel Taking Over McAfee – Intel-ligent Move or Epic McFail?

Read More: And now in detail…

Rock the New Year!

Howdy all!

A couple of Fridays back our friendly international team plus special guests had our annual Christmas & New Year work do! It wasn’t a Much Ado about Nothing. It was a Much Ado about ROCK! This year our luau took place in a brand spanking new Moscow venue called Kazakova Hall, which opened only in September just off the busy Kutuzovsky Prospekt (getting there turned out to be a bit of a ‘mare – one minus). The place was basically an abandoned factory – a second minus; still, to some I think it was a plus – especially for our foreign employees :)

Anyway, all the rest was one big fat funking plus! The shindig was called “Rock the New Year!” with real bikers, bikes, and Bigfoots supporting the entourage of the rocker party. Around 1500 guests partied the night away, including 200 guests from our regional offices.

Kaspersky Lab's New Years Party

See more: The program details and some nice shots!

2011 – Review; 2012 – Forecast.

For quite a while now we’ve had a bit of an annual tradition in the run-up to the New Year festivities – every December we summarize all the security goings-on of the last 12 months, and then prophesize a bit about what’s in store in the coming year. This year we did our roundup and predictions – covering all sorts of, regrettably, frightening stuff – at a press conference in Moscow last Monday. It was a pretty stylish event – with a hospital theme as you can see from the pic below. But I won’t go over all that again here. Here’s the original text used at the press conference, and here’s a link to the pdf summary.

Kaspersky Lab hospital themed press conference

Here, let me outline the main points in our review/prognosis.

More: Internet access from workplace and Internet passportization …

Machu Pictures.

Hi everyone!

If you’ve been following these posts for any length of time at all, you’ll have gathered that I travel a lot. A real a lot! So much so that towards the end of the year I even have to put the brakes on a bit and simply say “nyet” to my colleagues who want me here, there and everywhere – otherwise I’d be ejected from the list of proud Russian citizens who pay Russian taxes :) However, at least once a year I indulge myself with a sightseeing-only trip. Yep, no business at all. Well, except for the teambuilding with the guys who help me getting there.

Machu pictures

More: More stunning Machu Pictures!

Features You’d Normally Never Hear About – Part Three.

And so I continue with series on some of the lesser-known, fruitiest features to be found in our products. This time I’ll be concentrating on whitelisting – a completely different approach to malware protection, which at the moment is included in KIS, PURE, and the new generation of our corporate products.

So why did I choose this seemingly techie term that could frighten off a respectable non-overly-techie reader from the very beginning?

The answer is quite simple:  in a way whitelisting is pretty much revolutionary for the industry – based on a totally new paradigm, which goes far beyond traditional pattern-based technology. As a result this a great opportunity for the anti-malware industry to be one step ahead in the battle with cyber-criminals, and for you – to be better protected against unknown threats. And in fact whitelisting is not that techie – see for yourself below!

So, what is whitelisting?

A list written in correction fluid? Such a thing may exist, erm, I guess. But no, KL’s whitelisting is something a little different.

More: A technology that brings some fresh air to the anti-malware industry …

SOPA-Dodger.

– or why have we decided to withdraw from the Business Software Alliance (BSA).

Hi all!

Recently the US blogosphere has become increasingly alarmed by the new Anti-Piracy Act – Stop Online Piracy Act or SOPA. Discussions of the topic are, to put it mildly, quite frank, with comments like: “These idiots are coming for your internet” (read here).

What is SOPA?

It is support for and development of something that is currently very relevant – the protection of intellectual property. Ladies and gentlemen, this really is important! “Thou shalt not steal,” as the Bible says! An author – or more often than not, a team – spends sleepless nights writing a book, composing music, shooting a film, creating software or testing software packages. Doesn’t that deserve a financial reward? Yes or no? Think before you answer – someone could well ask the same question about your profession… So?

More: A vinyl-age law for Internet? …