Cyberfirm Kaspersky seeks to win back trust

Russian cybersecurity firm Kaspersky Lab announced on Monday it will allow third parties to analyse its antivirus software in an attempt to rule out accusations of spying for the Kremlin.

"We want to show how we?re completely open and transparent. We've nothing to hide," company founder Eugene Kaspersky said while launching what was dubbed a "global transparency initiative".

"Cybersecurity has no borders, but attempts to introduce national boundaries in cyberspace is counterproductive and must be stopped. We need to reestablish trust in relationships between companies, governments and citizens," he said in a statement.

The US government suspects Kaspersky Lab of working with the Russian spy agency and in September the Department of Homeland Security ordered US agencies using Kaspersky products to remove and replace them.

"Kaspersky Lab will engage the broader information security community and other stakeholders in validating and verifying the trustworthiness of its products, internal processes, and business operations," the company said in the statement.

"As part of the initiative, the company intends to provide the source code of its software -? including software updates and threat-detection rules updates -? for independent review and assessment."

The company's software, widely respected for its virus-catching effectiveness, is used on millions of computers around the world.

The company has said it will open "transparency centres", beginning in 2018, to address security issues with customers, partners and government stakeholders.

Three centres will open in Asia, Europe and the US by 2020, it said.

Source: AFP