At the end of September, in one of the People's Republic of China's technology capitals, the city of Tianjin, took place the large yearly national conference devoted to the computer virus threat and the development of effective methods of defense. Taking part in the conference for the first time...
At the end of September, in one of the People's Republic of China's technology capitals, the city of Tianjin, took place the large yearly national conference devoted to the computer virus threat and the development of effective methods of defense. Taking part in the conference for the first time was - Kaspersky Lab. As is well known, China is one of the main pillars of the modern global economy. Over the past 10 years the country's gross national product has more than tripled, amounting to nearly 1.5 trillion US dollars. The rapid development of China's economy has led to tumultuous growth in the area of information technology. Naturally, the formation of an information technology infrastructure would not be possible without the effective implementation of data security systems, including, anti-virus solutions. Without such systems the computerization of business enterprises and organizations is at risk of becoming easy prey for hackers and virus creators. The necessity to protect information is understood by China's leadership as fundamental to the continued growth of the country's information technology infrastructure. Among the participants in the conference were high-ranking representatives of the Internal Affairs Ministry, the Information Technology Ministry and regional officials from the bureau of national security among others. There were great demands placed on the conference's presenters due to the high level of their audience. Kaspersky Lab CEO, Natalia Kaspersky presented a report on contemporary threats to company information systems and data protection technologies. The announcement of the company's latest creations, including the personal firewall Kaspersky Anti-Hacker, generated great interest. Interestingly, computer virus security differs in China than in most other countries due to it being regulated on the government level. For this a special sub-department of the State Police was created. Kaspersky Lab products and technologies are already well known on the Chinese market, and as an honor to the company, Kaspersky Lab was just one of three foreign companies invited by the Chinese government's Anti-virus Police to join a special group of experts. "China has taken enormous strides. Experts estimate the size of the Chinese anti-virus market to be from sixty to eighty million dollars in which is clearly seen the tendency for explosive growth", commented Natalia Kaspersky, "The tremendous prospects connected with this unprecedented growth and un-reached market saturation, define our expectations going into the Chinese market." Already, Kaspersky Lab has begun the process of certifying its products, a step required to participate in China's anti-virus software market. Between the end of 2002 and the beginning of 2003, Kaspersky Lab intends to open an official representative office in the capital city Beijing. From this office the company will work towards developing business in China. The main users of Kaspersky Lab anti-virus products are mid-size businesses and corporate customers.