Kaspersky UK boss: We have nothing to hide

UK GM Adam Maskatiya tells partners to continue basing decisions on Kaspersky's products, not on politics

Kaspersky's UK general manager Adam Maskatiya has moved to reassure UK partners as the vendor's entanglement with the US government continues.

Kaspersky's US stand-off reached a pinnacle last week when the Department of Homeland Security ordered government departments to remove all Kaspersky products within 90 days because of alleged ties with the Russian government - an accusation Kaspersky and its eponymous founder Eugene Kaspersky have denied for months.

Speaking to CRN, Maskatiya said that the vendor has shown complete transparency throughout the saga - ahead of Kaspersky's trip to the US Senate next week.

"We have nothing to hide," he said. "We're sharing everything that we have - it's all in the public domain and we'll continue to share that information.

"Next week on the 27 September Eugene is due to go to the Senate; that's a critical event and we'll be communicating to our partner community as quickly as possible.

"We're here to co-operate and to answer any questions."

Maskatiya joined Kaspersky in June following a three-year spell at KPMG, having previously spent 10 years at Computacenter earlier in his career.

When asked if he expected partners and customers to be concerned about using Kaspersky products in light of the accusations, he said that decisions should continue to be made based on technology, not on politics.

"It comes back to the informed decisions that partners make and the reason that they chose our technology, and continue to choose our technology, to protect their clients," he said.

"Those are still valid reasons and the most important reasons. It's about protecting [customers] and continuing to deliver [protection] through the quality of our technology and capabilities.

"I think people apply and test their decisions based on the technology and the track record of keeping themselves safe and secure. Those are the key decision points and criteria. They remain as valid now [as they always have]."

Maskatiya moved to reaffirm Kaspersky's commitment to the channel, revealing that in the first half of this year the vendor's enterprise business through partners grew 40 per cent.

He said that Kaspersky operates a 100-per-cent two-tier model in the UK, with the only exceptions coming when a customer specifically asks to go direct.

Kaspersky is now targeting greater penetration in the MSP market, having launched a dedicated MSP programme earlier this year.

"This is really about us bringing the capability of our technology and allowing partners to complement and augment services that they're delivering to their end-users," Maskatiya said.

"We have some MSPs that have been with us on that journey for some time, so the objective of that programme is to give additional benefits to partners, like certification and training, [and] exclusive access to volume-based pricing, as well as the advantages around monthly billing."