At a time when information is shared so freely, the details you choose to keep private matter more than ever. Our commitment to your privacy and data security is a fundamental part of who we are. Scroll down to see how this helps us secure the data that defines your digital world. Then ask your other cybersecurity choices if they can even come close.
Our Global Transparency Initiative reimagines industry openness and reaffirms our commitment to your privacy and data security. See how we’re protecting important customer data right now:
We’ve relocated processing of our cyberthreat-related data to Switzerland, which boasts a well-earned reputation for neutrality and strict data security legislation. It is among the few countries recognized by the European Commission for adequate protection of personal data . What does this cyberthreat-related data include? Suspicious or previously unknown malicious files that the company’s products send to the Kaspersky Security Network (KSN) for automated malware analysis.
Malicious and suspicious files, which are anonymized and voluntarily shared by Kaspersky users—including in North America—are processed in two Zurich data centers for the highest levels of security.
We’ve built facilities for the review of our source code, software updates, threat
detection rules and other technical and business processes. We currently serve North America via
our Zurich Global Transparency Center—including remote access—and we’ll
soon open limited, secure remote access to our new
center in New
Brunswick, Canada
.
Get the full details on our groundbreaking Global Transparency
Initiative
Want to learn more or request access to a Transparency Center?
Contact [email protected] or visit our Transparency Center
website.
The security and protection of our customers is our top priority; therefore, we follow the strictest access-policy practices and reserve the right to turn down a request if it could potentially cause a security breach.
The Transparency Center welcomes:
Academia, media and information security community experts are being considered as potential invitees to the Transparency Center in the future
Under no circumstances whatsoever will Kaspersky provide intelligence or law enforcement agencies that have a mandate and/or capability for cyber-offensive operations with access to the Transparency Center. The security information and infrastructure in the Transparency Center are provided by Kaspersky strictly for consultation purposes only. Any actions to modify the company’s source code, software updates, or threat detection rules are forbidden and will be prevented by the TC Steering team; any abuse will be reported to the local law enforcement agency.
“Big Four” independent SOC 2 assessment
A Big Four accounting firm has audited the security and integrity of our solutions through the Service Organization Controls for Service Organizations (SOC 2) Type 1.
The final report confirms that the development and release of Kaspersky’s threat detection rules (AV) databases are protected from unauthorized changes through strong security controls.
ISO/IEC 27001:2013 by TÜV AUSTRIA
The certification shows our commitment to strong data security, and that Kaspersky’s Data Service is in full compliance with industry-leading privacy best practices.
The third-party accredited certification body confirms that our data security systems, including Kaspersky Security Network, meet industry data privacy standards.
We go a step further to keep your data private through strong encryption, digital certificates, segregated storage and strict data access policies. We also adhere to the following data processing principles:
To keep you up-to-date with news on the relocation to Switzerland and the other activities that form part of our Global Transparency Initiative, we’ll be posting regular updates and progress reports in this section.
First Transparency Center opens and data processing for European users in Zurich begins, plus news of an independent engineering audit and a thriving bug bounty program
On November 13, 2018, malicious and suspicious files shared voluntarily with Kaspersky by users of the company’s products in Europe started to be processed in two data centers in Zurich. The data, which includes suspicious or previously unknown malicious files and corresponding meta-data that the company’s products send to Kaspersky Security Network (KSN) for automated malware analysis, is being processed in data centers that provide world-class facilities in compliance with industry standards to ensure the highest levels of security.
The move reflects Kaspersky’s determination to assure the integrity and trustworthiness of its products. It is accompanied by the opening of the company’s first Transparency Center, also in Zurich. Through the Transparency Center, Kaspersky will provide governments and partners with information on its products and their security, including essential and important technical documentation, for external evaluation in a secure environment.
Other activities in progress include the engagement of a Big Four professional services firm to audit the company's engineering practices around the creation and distribution of threat detection rule databases, with the aim of independently confirming their accordance with the highest industry security practices.
Alongside this, Kaspersky continues to support an active bug bounty program. Within one year, it has resolved more than 50 bugs reported by security researchers, of which several were especially valuable.
Supply chain issues and ‘balkanization’ are major challenges for the security of today’s ultra-connected global landscape. To overcome them, the world needs trust and transparency in cybersecurity. We believe that companies will need to increase transparency in their products and business operations in order to earn and maintain trust. Our new measures demonstrate our approach for achieving that: through tangible, practical steps implemented within the overall framework of our Global Transparency Initiative
Kaspersky’s Global Transparency Initiative (GTI) is a reaffirmation of the company’s commitment to earning and maintaining the trust of its most important stakeholders: its customers. It includes a number of actionable and concrete measures to involve external independent cyber security experts and others in validating and verifying the trustworthiness of the company’s products, its internal processes and business operations, and to introduce additional accountability mechanisms by which the company can further demonstrate that it addresses any security issues promptly and thoroughly.
In the context of GTI, the storage and processing of user data, shared voluntarily with the Kaspersky Security Network, has been relocated from Russia to Switzerland.
We have also opened Transparency Centers across the globe which serve as facilities for trusted partners and government stakeholders to review the company’s code, software updates, and threat detection rules; as well as a briefing center to learn more about Kaspersky’s engineering and data processing practices. Our Transparency Centers are open in Zurich, Switzerland, Madrid, Spain, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and São Paulo, Brazil. In 2021, a new Transparency Center will open in New Brunswick, Canada.
The relocation reflects our willingness to address customer concerns by, firstly, moving some of our data storage and processing to a neutral region while maintaining our high global standards of data security and integrity.
This move further demonstrates our enduring commitment to assuring the integrity and trustworthiness of Kaspersky solutions in the service of our customers, and to addressing any concerns outlined by regulators.
A decision about the relocation of data processing for each country is based on market specifics, customer demands and local regulation. The company has moved data processing and storage for our customers in Europe, the United States, Canada, and several countries in the Asia-Pacific region.
There is no difference between Switzerland and Russia in terms of data processing. In both regions we adhere to our fundamental principle of respecting and protecting people’s privacy, and we will use a uniform approach to processing users’ data, with strict policies applied.
Trusted partners will have access to the company’s code, software updates and threat detection rules, among other things.
The Transparency Center’s functions include:
- Access to secure software development documentation
- Access to the source code
of any publically released product
- Access to threat detection rule
databases
- Access to the source code of cloud services
responsible for receiving and storing the data of Kaspersky customers
- Access
to software tools used for the creation of a product (the build scripts), threat
detection rule databases and cloud services
We provide three options to government stakeholders and enterprise customers for independent assessment of Kaspersky products. Given the challenging travel and visitor restrictions, customers and partners now also have an opportunity to review the source code remotely. Learn more here.
Transparency Centers in Zurich and Madrid are open for inspections by trusted partners and government stakeholders. Please refer to our Access policy for more information.
A SOC 2 Type 1 report is designed to meet the needs of existing or potential customers who need assurance about the design and implementation of controls at a service organization. It covers controls that are relevant to the security, availability, or processing integrity of the system used by the service organization to process customers’ information, or the confidentiality or privacy of that information.
We will continue to work with the community to prioritize transparency and accountability, and to enhance the security of modern software products, to further build consumer trust. Our core belief is that through collaborative multi-stakeholder efforts we are able to enhance confidence and trust in technology. More information about our transparency principles is available here.
