As it celebrates its 20-year anniversary, global cybersecurity company Kaspersky Lab has seen one man’s mission grow into a global crusade against cybercrime. With innovation and vision at its heart, this year will see Kaspersky Lab take its fight to new heights - launching key initiatives such as the adaptive Kaspersky Security Cloud and the Kaspersky OS - to empower businesses and consumers to protect themselves from ever-evolving threats. From its Earth 2050 project, revealing what the future cyberthreat landscape might look like, through to its Sound of Safety experiment, which investigates the sounds people associate with the feeling of safety, Kaspersky Lab remains one step ahead of criminals, and at the forefront of the cybersecurity industry.

In 1989, a young software engineer discovered that his computer had been attacked by the infamous Cascade virus. Fascinated by the challenge, he decided to detect the virus, analyze it and create software that could neutralize it. That engineer was Eugene Kaspersky and this is how the story of Kaspersky Lab – now a 20-year old business employing over 3,700 people – began.

In 1997, Eugene and three other partners founded Kaspersky Lab. Starting out with just 19 people, Kaspersky Lab has grown into an international leader in cybersecurity, operating in 200 countries and territories and with 35 offices in 31 countries. The company’s products and technologies provide protection for over 400 million users and over 270,000 corporate clients worldwide.

Over its 20-year history, Kaspersky Lab has seen multiple changes to the threat landscape - as well as in the way people and organizations approach their security. The rapid proliferation of new technologies has meant that the computer Eugene first rescued from Cascade is obsolete, because like many others, he now users multiple devices every day. But while our connectivity has enhanced our lives and changed them forever, our growing dependence on IT has also made cyberthreats a global problem.

Since technology has become so important to consumers’ every day experiences, expertise in IT security has become doubly so. Eugene and his team understand the world’s cyberthreat landscape, and are among the best when it comes to detecting and neutralizing all forms of malicious programs. The wealth of expertise gained by the business after years of combating major IT threats is Kaspersky Lab’s most valuable asset, and allows the team to remain one step ahead of potential threats.

Today, the Kaspersky Lab portfolio encompasses IT security solutions to suit a wide range of customers. These protect consumers, small companies, medium-sized businesses and enterprises from different types of threats and provide them with convenient tools to control and manage their security.

One of Kaspersky Lab’s key strengths is its team, as Eugene Kaspersky, CEO and co-founder of Kaspersky Lab, explains, “Twenty years in one business is a long time. But believe it or not, I still love it. I love our team, and the work we do. We’ve had good times and bad times and between us we have learned a lot. For the last 20 years we have been working around the clock every day - analyzing and combating all kinds of IT threats that have evolved in that time, and making the world a better place. I have been very lucky – my business is my passion. Even after two decades I’m still driven by curiosity: what’s that, how’s it work, and why? I’m fascinated by the technology and learn so much from the people around me.”

“My aim is to have each of our team contribute as much as he or she can - to become a part of something bigger. It’s beyond just having a job – it’s more about being an actively involved member of the Kaspersky Lab community,” concluded Eugene Kaspersky.