Kaspersky to store data of US and Canada customers in Switzerland

Kaspersky is progressing with the relocation of its data storage and processing infrastructure to Switzerland, now by moving data from customers from the United States and Canada.

In addition, the company is announcing plans to open its first Latin American Transparency Center in Sao Paulo, Brazil in January 2020.

Kaspersky has been working to improve customer security by building effective data protection based on digital trust.

Therefore, as part of its Global Transparency Initiative, Kaspersky has been adapting its data storage and processing infrastructure by moving core processes from Russia to Switzerland – starting with European users.

The company is now taking the next step by announcing that data from customers of the United States and Canada will also be moved and processed in Switzerland.

This data is shared voluntarily with the Kaspersky Security Network (KSN) – a cloud-based system that automatically processes cyberthreat-related data.

This includes suspicious or previously unknown malicious files that the company's products send to KSN for automated malware analysis.

Kaspersky public affairs vice-president Anton Shingarev says, "All of us want to protect our own data. That is an understandable demand in our digital world.

"But we need to know that we can trust our own choices in digital technology, like smartphones, laptops, mobile applications or cybersecurity solutions," he says.

The company's announcement was made at the Paris Peace Forum 2019, the second edition of an international global event that Kaspersky has supported as an early signatory of the Paris Call for Trust and Security in Cyberspace.

In addition, Kaspersky has announced plans to open a new Transparency Center in Latin America.

It's been exactly one year since the company established its first Transparency Center in Zurich – a dedicated security facility for trusted partners to review the company's source code – and it proved to be an important tool for both existing and prospective Kaspersky customers to increase their confidence and trust in cybersecurity products and services.

Earlier this year, the company opened one more European Transparency Center in Madrid and announced the opening of its APAC Transparency Center in Malaysia, in addition to adding extended functionalities to the facilities.

Kaspersky provides its visitors with the possibility to learn more about engineering and data-processing practices, as well as its product portfolio.

At all of Kaspersky's Transparency Centers, the company provides the opportunity to compile the company's software from its source code and compare it with the publicly available one.

This move assures confidence in Kaspersky's products, allowing them to run a compilation process with the assistance of the company's experts.

"Our specifically developed 'three-layer' approach to security briefings provides each partner with the most appropriate and needed type of support," says Shingarev.

"From sharing our transparency and data processing practices to conducting a hardcore comprehensive source code review, we provide our partners with the information they need.

Kaspersky has also been working on its Bug Bounty Program.

Since March 2018, the company has received and resolved 66 bugs.

In total, 20 reports were rewarded with combined bounties totalling $45,350.