{"id":17608,"date":"2017-07-21T23:00:07","date_gmt":"2017-07-22T03:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com.au\/blog\/?p=17608"},"modified":"2020-02-27T04:05:33","modified_gmt":"2020-02-26T17:05:33","slug":"kaspersky-lab-20yo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com.au\/blog\/kaspersky-lab-20yo\/17608\/","title":{"rendered":"Then and now. 20 years in-between \u2014 all uphill"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/eugene.kaspersky.com\/2017\/06\/26\/happy-birthday-to-us-20-years-old-to-the-day\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">20 years<\/a> in business \u2014 is that a long time, or no time at all? Or how about 25 years of continuous development of new technologies and products (including the five years pre-KL)?<\/p>\n<p>To answer that properly we need to ask how old the industry \u2014 cybersecurity \u2014 is itself. Well, the very first antivirus programs appeared just a few years before 25 years ago.<\/p>\n<p>So that means we\u2019re one of a handful of developers around that <em>created<\/em> cybersecurity! Indeed, we\u2019ve been in the industry since its infancy (when on-demand signature scanners were all the rage), and are still here today (in the new age of big data and <a href=\"https:\/\/eugene.kaspersky.com\/2016\/09\/26\/laziness-cybersecurity-and-machine-learning\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">machine learning<\/a>). And that\u2019s 20+ years in the cutting-edge avant garde. Oh yes. And no: modesty isn\u2019t forbidding \u2014 it\u2019s our birthday, after all :).<\/p>\n<p>More immodesty: just think of all the cyber-nastiness we\u2019ve been destroying in all those 20 years!<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe class=\"youtube-player\" type=\"text\/html\" width=\"640\" height=\"390\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/aMzJoDKS3So?version=3&amp;rel=1&amp;fs=1&amp;showsearch=0&amp;showinfo=1&amp;iv_load_policy=1&amp;wmode=transparent\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"true\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Of course, there\u2019s never just one way of interpreting history. And Kaspersky Lab\u2019s history is no exception.<\/p>\n<p>On the one hand, we could look at old pics from our halcyon days of 20 years ago, recall the naive mistakes and missteps we made with a cringe, then also look in the mirror at our graying hair and deepening lines on our faces and get all melancholic! Sure \u2014 that\u2019s possible\u2026<\/p>\n<p>But on the other hand \u2014 looking at the very same pics of those halcyon days of 20 years ago \u2014 we could simply smile instead, and admit something like: \u2018Not a bad first two decades, but we\u2019re only just warming up!\u2019 It\u2019s all just perception: you gonna concentrate on the problems and difficulties, or the successes and achievements? Well, no prizes for guessing which perception we\u2019re going for in this here post; yep the latter: \u2019cause that\u2019s how we do it KL \u2014 we stay positive. In this business \u2014 you have to! And we hope we\u2019ll inspire you, dear reader, to do the same.<\/p>\n<p>So, in the run-up to KL\u2019s birthday, we had a long hard think about how we could most graphically and strongly arouse inspiration, while keeping true to historical faithfulness (and observing norms of decency :). And this is what we came up with: let\u2019s have a quick look at some of the more curious and fun aspects of the company over the years \u2014 how it was in the \u2018good old days\u2019, how it looks now, and how it\u2019ll be in the future.<\/p>\n<h4>We\u2019ll start with our <strong>office<\/strong>.<\/h4>\n<p>If we go right back to the beginning \u2014 the early 1990s, we\u2019ve moved offices a whopping six times!<\/p>\n<p>Here, for example, is what the epicenter of development of one of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/top3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">best antiviruses in the world<\/a> looked like in 1994. That was our whole office! Ok, so registering as \u2018Me Lab\u2019 came three years later, but still \u2014 it was our office. It was actually part of the KAMI company, which produced software and hardware solutions in the 90s.<br>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/media.kasperskydaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/102\/2017\/07\/20082138\/20-years-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media.kasperskydaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/102\/2017\/07\/20082138\/20-years-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"981\" height=\"660\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-17619\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Btw, it was in this year (1994) that we took part in <a href=\"http:\/\/agn-www.informatik.uni-hamburg.de\/vtc\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">tests of Hamburg University<\/a> for the first time \u2014 and unexpectedly won (by a mile) on quality of protection. In the pic above I think the smiles were breaking through the exhaustion after hearing about our win.<\/p>\n<p>Today we\u2019re housed in our own (<a href=\"https:\/\/eugene.kaspersky.com\/2011\/08\/11\/home-sweet-home\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">HQ<\/a>) <a href=\"https:\/\/eugene.kaspersky.com\/2013\/03\/12\/elvis-has-left-the-building\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">office<\/a> in our own new business park. It\u2019s half-way between downtown Moscow and Sheremetyevo International Airport.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe class=\"youtube-player\" type=\"text\/html\" width=\"640\" height=\"390\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/EbgJFksi-kk?version=3&amp;rel=1&amp;fs=1&amp;showsearch=0&amp;showinfo=1&amp;iv_load_policy=1&amp;wmode=transparent\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"true\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<p>So yes \u2014 nice and swish and with all the mod-cons. What a difference 23 years makes! Still, there is one thing I\u2019ll say about our first office \u2014 it was cozy. A modern, spacious office won\u2019t ever be able to compete properly on coziness \u263a. The canteen was excellent too!<\/p>\n<h4><strong>Business Trips<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>It\u2019s no accident we\u2019re just 15km from SVO. When you have lots of employees flying out on business trips daily, plus a globetrotting chairman and CEO, plus employees from other countries flying in daily; plus valued international customers, partners and governmental delegations toing and froing non-stop, it\u2019s just logistical common sense to set up camp not far from an intercontinental airport-hub.<\/p>\n<p>Not that it\u2019s always been so. Back in the day there were far fewer KLers, so much more infrequent business trips, and so it didn\u2019t really matter if we were near an airport or not. And still on the topic of business trips \u2014 they\u2019ve changed beyond recognition over time too. These days it\u2019s normally four or five-star hotels \u2014 and each KLer with their own room (!), business class for the senior managers, and therefore business lounges in airports. Back in the day: 2-3* hotels, 2-3 KLers per room (!), and economy class all the way for everyone. Not that we even noticed \u2014 or minded. We were too busy thinking of bigger things \u2014 like saving the world and making the best cybersecurity ever. Who cared if the rooms had no balcony?<br>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/media.kasperskydaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/102\/2017\/07\/20082131\/20-years-2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media.kasperskydaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/102\/2017\/07\/20082131\/20-years-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"647\" height=\"863\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-17618\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>These days I insist on business class. When you have a international business schedule as hectic as mine, economy only slows the pace. On business you can relax or sleep properly and be ready to get straight down to \u2018business\u2019 when you arrive. I guess that\u2019s why they call it <em>business class<\/em>. As regards hotels however, I\u2019m not bothered what star they are. Main things: bed, shower, Wi-Fi, no cockroaches, no noisy neighbors, and situated near where my business is. Anything else is superfluous, IMHO. Maybe it\u2019s my indifference to \u2018comfort\u2019 has made me \u2018comfortable\u2019 with myself? \u263a<br>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/media.kasperskydaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/102\/2017\/07\/20082130\/20-years-3.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media.kasperskydaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/102\/2017\/07\/20082130\/20-years-3.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1100\" height=\"733\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-17616\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>A natural progression here. After <strong>Business Trips<\/strong>\u2026<\/p>\n<h4><strong>\u2026Exhibitions and the Like<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>Up until the mid-2000s we all took it in turn to \u2018man the stands\u2019 at exhibitions \u2014 and that included all directors and department heads. I was on the front lines a lot too, and I look back on those days with nostalgia. Direct contact with users is just the ticket to take your mind off your usual routine and problems, and of course you get to hear exactly what customers want \u2014 straight from the horse\u2019s mouth, as they say. Everyone mucked in: we\u2019d all arrive together a few days in advance of an event to set up the stands, prepare the freebies and catalogs, etc., and get the press office\u2026 \u2018<a href=\"https:\/\/financialtribune.com\/sites\/default\/files\/field\/image\/07_Ta_non-alcoholic-2.jpg\">supplies<\/a>\u2018 in :).<br>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/media.kasperskydaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/102\/2017\/07\/20082130\/20-years-4.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media.kasperskydaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/102\/2017\/07\/20082130\/20-years-4.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"811\" height=\"1081\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-17615\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>These days exhibitions are finely-tuned business conveyors, organized right down to the finest detail by a specialist companies. The stands are manned mostly by KLers from the given local office, plus by hosts from agencies who act as a gatepost-office for incoming visitors (directing folks to either Sales, Marketing, PR, R&amp;D, Analyst Relations, or some other departments).<br>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/media.kasperskydaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/102\/2017\/07\/20082128\/20-years-5.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media.kasperskydaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/102\/2017\/07\/20082128\/20-years-5.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"825\" height=\"559\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-17614\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>And if we\u2019re talking exhibitions and conventions, I need to mention my speeches thereat. My first big public address was at the Virus Bulletin conference in 2001, which had a scarily multinational audience.<\/p>\n<p>I say \u2018big\u2019; well, it sure seemed big to me up on stage for the first time, but there were probably only about 150 folks there! I don\u2019t remember much of what I was talking about \u2014 I was so nervous, plus speaking in English. My brain was near to overheating \u2014 the cooling system was proving insufficient and the RAM was maxed out. I don\u2019t know how I managed it, but I did: afterwards the audience said they really liked it. Phew! Job done! More detail on that fateful VB-2001 presentation \u2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/eugene.kaspersky.com\/2011\/07\/28\/a-blast-from-the-past-part-iii-back-to-the-future-a-virus-remake\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here<\/a>.<br>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/media.kasperskydaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/102\/2017\/07\/20082126\/20-years-6.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media.kasperskydaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/102\/2017\/07\/20082126\/20-years-6.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-17612\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Back then I didn\u2019t like flying one bit. Not <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/B._A._Baracus\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">B.A. Baracus<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=DaJOeLuUD94\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">style<\/a> or anything, but still \u2014 hated it. Being cramped, not knowing who the pilot was or what condition the plane was in. But after around two years my flying-phobia just kinda disappeared of its own accord. Good job! How else would I manage these days when I can cover four continents in as many days thanks to modern civil aviation? Oh, and my nervousness regarding public speaking disappeared of its own accord too. <em>Do what you fear!<\/em> For at least the last decade I\u2019m fine with larger crowds, like this:<br>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/media.kasperskydaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/102\/2017\/07\/20082131\/20-years-7.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media.kasperskydaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/102\/2017\/07\/20082131\/20-years-7.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1100\" height=\"733\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-17617\"><\/a><\/p>\n\n<h4><strong>Partying<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>\u2018<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=4lQ_MjU4QHw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy<\/a>\u2018. AKA \u2018work hard, play hard\u2019. That\u2019s KL. Always been that way, and always will.<br>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/eugene.kaspersky.com\/2016\/07\/26\/little-19\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">2016<\/a>:<br>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/media.kasperskydaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/102\/2017\/07\/20082128\/20-years-8.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media.kasperskydaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/102\/2017\/07\/20082128\/20-years-8.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"860\" height=\"537\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-17613\"><\/a><\/p>\n\n<p>1998:<\/p>\n<p>Hmmm. I could be days here poring nostalgically over the past 20+ years.<\/p>\n<p>I could track the evolution of our <a href=\"https:\/\/eugene.kaspersky.com\/2011\/08\/16\/a-blast-from-the-past-part-iv-the-very-first-international-partner-conference\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">partner conferences<\/a>, that of retail <a href=\"https:\/\/eugene.kaspersky.com\/2011\/06\/27\/a-blast-from-the-past-part-i-the-packshot-odyssey\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">product boxes<\/a>, or of our <a href=\"https:\/\/cdn.press.kaspersky.com\/files\/2017\/04\/Corporate_profile_Q2_2017.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">corporate profile<\/a> (sales, customer numbers, employees, regional offices and partners, technologies, products and services\u2026) \u2014 all of it has increased\/changed beyond our imaginings.<\/p>\n<p><em>Everything<\/em> changed? Actually \u2014 not quite. At least one thing hasn\u2019t\u2026<\/p>\n<p>What hasn\u2019t is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=AsAwswMpIeI\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">working hard<\/a>. We\u2019ve always done it, still do it, will continue to do it. Through tiredness and difficulties, and at any time of day or night. We love challenges \u2014 the more complex the better.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/eugene.kaspersky.com\/tag\/patent-trolls\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Patent trolls<\/a>? We\u2019ll fight them to the last bullet \u2014 their last bullet! Remember: you give a troll breakfast once, he comes back for lunch, dinner and supper \u2014 every day.<\/p>\n<p>A <a href=\"https:\/\/eugene.kaspersky.com\/2017\/05\/02\/at-last-not-all-so-quiet-on-the-antitrust-front\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">monopolist against independent vendors<\/a>? We don\u2019t just sit there and accept such unfairness \u2014 we head to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/microsoft-european-trial\/16976\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">different<\/a> antitrust bodies to have it rightly stopped.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/eugene.kaspersky.com\/2017\/06\/30\/keeping-cybersecurity-separate-from-geopolitics\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Geopolitical flare-ups<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/eugene.kaspersky.com\/2017\/07\/12\/how-bloomberg-just-edited-an-agricultural-newspaper\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">state-influenced pressure<\/a> for being too good? We continue doing what we do: protecting against any cyberthreat no matter where it\u2019s from or how \u2018good\u2019 the intentions may be. We were doing it 20 years ago during global malware outbreaks, and we\u2019re doing it today protecting home users\u2019 computers and devices, corporate networks and critical infrastructure.<\/p>\n<p><em>Passion channeled into a humanitarian mission, focusing on practical results, doing our very best. For me this has become KL\u2019s formula of success. Think big, do something genuinely useful for the world, slog selflessly, and enjoy it too. Keep doing that, and anything else that comes along (like all the good stuff mentioned above) will simply be a bonus. Cheers to that!<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Yes, that was a toast \u263a.<\/p>\n<p>Bye folks. I\u2019ve a birthday bash to get to\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Let\u2019s have a quick look at some of the more curious and fun aspects of the company over the years \u2014 how it was in the \u2018good old days\u2019, how it looks now, and how it\u2019ll be in the future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":17611,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,2647],"tags":[2537,352,2572],"class_list":{"0":"post-17608","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"category-special-projects","9":"tag-20-years","10":"tag-kaspersky-lab","11":"tag-kl20"},"hreflang":[{"hreflang":"en-au","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com.au\/blog\/kaspersky-lab-20yo\/17608\/"},{"hreflang":"es-mx","url":"https:\/\/latam.kaspersky.com\/blog\/kaspersky-lab-20yo\/11060\/"},{"hreflang":"es","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.es\/blog\/kaspersky-lab-20yo\/13973\/"},{"hreflang":"it","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.it\/blog\/kaspersky-lab-20yo\/13973\/"},{"hreflang":"ru","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.ru\/blog\/kaspersky-lab-20yo\/17984\/"},{"hreflang":"x-default","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/kaspersky-lab-20yo\/17733\/"},{"hreflang":"pt-br","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com.br\/blog\/kaspersky-lab-20yo\/9523\/"},{"hreflang":"de","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.de\/blog\/kaspersky-lab-20yo\/14217\/"},{"hreflang":"ja","url":"https:\/\/blog.kaspersky.co.jp\/kaspersky-lab-20yo\/17389\/"},{"hreflang":"en-za","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.co.za\/blog\/kaspersky-lab-20yo\/17571\/"}],"acf":[],"banners":"","maintag":{"url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com.au\/blog\/tag\/kl20\/","name":"kl20"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17608","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17608"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17608\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26951,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17608\/revisions\/26951"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17611"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17608"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17608"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17608"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}