Yevgeny Valentinovich Kaspersky

Co-founder of Kaspersky Lab, producer of antivirus software and computer security products, Kaspersky is recognized as a leading figure in information security.

Kaspersky graduated from the Institute of Cryptography, Telecommunications and Computer Science, an institute co-sponsored by the Russian Ministry of Defence and the KGB, in 1987. He held the rank of Major of the KGB and therefore swore to serve the country, signing a non-disclosure and loyalty statement to the KGB (known today as the Federal Security Service). Kaspersky then worked at a multi-discipline scientific research institute until 1991.

While there, the Cascade virus was detected on his computer, which increased Kaspersky's interest in information security and led to his studying the field of computer virology from 1989. He joined the KAMI Information Technologies Center in 1991, where Kaspersky and his associates developed the AVP anti-virus product. In 1997, he co-founded Kaspersky Lab, which was later run for a decade by his ex-wife Natalya Kaspersky.

In November 2000, AVP was renamed "Kaspersky Anti-Virus" after a dispute with a US partner. In 2007, Kaspersky was named CEO of Kaspersky Lab. On June 12, 2009, he received the Russian State Award from President Medvedev for improving state security. In the same year, he also received the People's Republic of China Friendship Award.