Biography of Evgeny Kaspersky
Currently, Evgeny Kaspersky is one of the world’s leading experts in the fight against cybercrime. He is called the thunderstorm of computer hackers, as well as “the man who saves the world every day.” In the rating of the richest and most influential people in Russia, a separate place is always “reserved” for him. But what is the life and destiny of this person?
The answer to this question is known only to a few. Eugene Kaspersky remains a mystery to many. His name (or rather his surname) is clearly associated with the complex of computer programs developed by him. But what do we know about him as a person? We will try to collect all the reliable facts from the life of Eugene Kaspersky today within the framework of this article.
The origin of Eugene Kaspersky
Eugene was born in Novorossiysk and became the only child in his family. His father worked as an engineer at a brick factory, and his mother held the post of an archival worker there. In many ways, it was she who predetermined the entire future fate of the future famous programmer. As Kaspersky himself recalls: “My mother at one time quickly noticed that I love mathematics. And she slipped me a lot of books on mathematics ”. A few years later, it was she who took her son to an optional physics and mathematics school, and then (after moving to the Moscow region) to a physics and mathematics boarding school at Moscow State University. Here the future programmer learned the basics of practical sciences, and was also engaged in self-education. A peculiar result of all this was admission to the Institute of Cryptography, Communications and Informatics at the KGB Military Academy. After graduating from his studies, Kaspersky went to serve. Several years later, he will return home with the rank of senior lieutenant.
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First steps in the field of programming
According to the official biography of Eugene Kaspersky, the programmer began studying computer viruses in 1989. It was during this period that the now famous programmer got the first personal computer. However, it soon became clear that the PC was infected. It should be noted that at that time computer viruses were still very rare. In addition, most of them were very primitive. Therefore, dealing with them was not so difficult.
“I cured my computer – I don’t remember which program anymore,” Kaspersky recalls. “But I saved one virus on a floppy disk. I was curious how it works. ” As it turned out later, this virus turned out to be the Cascade 1704 program. Having dealt with her device,
Kaspersky has written its own utility designed to disinfect it. As the programmer himself notes, all this was done solely out of curiosity. However, in the Research Institute of the Air Force General Staff, they became interested in spontaneous development.
Some time later, one of his then colleagues appeared in Kaspersky’s office and brought another virus on a floppy disk, suggesting that the programmer write a program to eliminate it. “I figured it out. It became interesting to me – and away we go, off we go, ”Yevgeny recalled many years later.
In 1991, the future well-known programmer went to work at the KAMI Information Technology Center, where, together with a group of colleagues, he continued to work on a number of anti-virus programs. In this organization, Evgeny Valentinovich will work until 1997. One of the results of its work will be the famous Kaspersky Anti-Virus.
Recognition and further career of Kaspersky
Soon, the program for protecting your computer from viruses, developed by Kaspersky, became one of the most popular in Russia and the CIS countries. Critics noted the high level of protection, and buyers from various companies willingly installed the new product on their computers. Soon, Eugene Kaspersky began work on a number of new versions of the program, which were also expected to be a great success.
Soon, Kaspersky Lab, founded in 1997 by a small group of like-minded people, turned into a large company headquartered in Moscow and representative offices in various parts of the world. Currently, Kaspersky is one of the world’s leading experts in the field of protection against virus programs. He is the author of a huge number of articles and publications devoted to the problem of computer virology.
In addition, Evgeny regularly speaks at various conferences and seminars in Russia and abroad, telling listeners about the various nuances of countering cyber attacks. Kaspersky Lab cooperates with many large world companies, and also provides information support to American, Brazilian, Polish, Israeli and Russian special services. According to some sources, the company’s turnover is more than $ 650 million a year.
In 2012, Kaspersky Lab had more than 2,500 employees. For his work, Evgeny Valentinovich was awarded many prestigious prizes, including the State Prize of the Russian Federation (2009) and the Runet Prize (2010). In 2012, the American publication Foreign Policy ranked him as the 40th Most Notable Thinker of the Year.
Who is Kaspersky?
Personal life of Evgeny Kaspersky
The legendary cybercrime fighter has been married twice. He has two children from his first marriage with Natalya Kaspersky (businesswoman and co-founder of Kaspersky Lab). The eldest son Maxim is a student at the Faculty of Geography of Moscow State University, and the youngest, Ivan, studies there, but already at the Department of Computational Mathematics and Cybernetics.
Eugene Kaspersky maintains friendly and trusting relations with his ex-wife. Until 2012, the former spouses remained colleagues and business partners.
All that is known about the programmer’s second wife is that Kaspersky met her at one of the ski resorts.
The kidnapping of Kaspersky’s son
In April 2011, the youngest son of a millionaire was kidnapped by malefactors near one of the Moscow metro stations. The perpetrators demanded 3 million euros for his life, but ultimately received only impressive prison sentences. After five days of imprisonment, Ivan was released from captivity by Moscow law enforcement officers.