Kaspersky boss explodes security myths

Russian antivirus guru Eugene Kaspersky has hit out at some of the myths which cloud what he sees as the real issues facing the IT security industry.

Speaking to silicon.com in Moscow, the eponymous head of Kaspersky Labs said companies' own agendas and some well-worn stereotypes about cyber crime stand in the way of reasoned discussion. He also criticised those who put too much faith in stats which, taken out of context, are often dangerously misleading.

In America... we see a lot of adware. That is almost entirely an American problem. Backdoors seem to be coming out of China a great deal, and from Russia we see a lot of Trojans and proxy servers.

-- Eugene Kaspersky, head of Kaspersky Labs

For example, headline figures for the past year put out recently by Computer Economics show the effect of cyber crime has diminished.

But Kaspersky told silicon.com: "These stats are not complete. This is often just damage to IT infrastructure not the actual costs."

If the overall economic impact has gone down, it's not because the threat has diminished but because the hackers have got cleverer and no longer seek to cause damage in the pursuit of more serious gains – such as data or identity theft and corporate espionage.

He said: "Hackers now want systems which work. They want to use these systems and there are instances now when corporate networks are badly impacted but they still work and there is no damage."

To say that kind of attack therefore has no economic value is highly dangerous, said Kaspersky, given the unquantifiable impact that data loss could have on a business.

Another issue close to his heart, which Kaspersky said needs to be addressed, is the idea that cyber crime is predominantly a Russian issue and he points the finger of blame at an old adversary in the propaganda wars. "There has been this stereotype thanks to the American press," said Kaspersky, who believes such notions have held back the fight against malware and hackers.

Kaspersky said the data he sees suggests there is more malicious code coming out of China and Latin America than Russia currently and said he finds it disappointing to see Russia the subject of so many negative headlines.

He added: "Of course in some countries there are areas of specialisation. In America for example, we see a lot of adware. That is almost entirely an American problem. Backdoors seem to be coming out of China a great deal, and from Russia we see a lot of Trojans and proxy servers. But this is a global problem."

Kaspersky said other areas of the security industry which have seen a great deal of hype - such as that which surrounds the threat of mobile phone viruses - may actually this year represent a more credible threat as more people upgrade to smart phones. Kaspersky believes hackers will become increasingly interested as such phones proliferate.

He said: "When they get cheap enough, smart phones will become a problem. It will happen sooner or later."