Chalk one up to information-sharing: Kaspersky Lab has signed an agreement with INTERPOL and a memorandum of understanding with Europol to expand cooperation between the company and the law enforcement agencies in their joint fight against cybercrime.
“This truly is a major leap forward in the global fight against cybercrime,” company chairman and CEO Eugene Kaspersky said, in a statement. “Such public-private cooperation is vital for improving security in cyber-space. These partnerships are perfectly aligned with our mission to ‘save the world’ from cyber-threats. As these threats’ scale and sophistication continue to grow, we have to join forces with national and international law enforcement bodies and also other private-sector security companies to effectively combat these growing hazards.”
Under the agreement with INTERPOL, Kaspersky Lab will provide its products, intelligence and ongoing support to the INTERPOL Global Complex for Innovation (IGCI) in Singapore.
At INTERPOL’s IGCI, the company will provide threat intelligence as well as both hardware and software to establish and run IGCI’s digital forensics laboratory and other operations of the newly-established center. Kaspersky Lab will also organize and run a series of training sessions for INTERPOL officers to transfer to them expertise in malware analysis, digital forensics and financial threat research. In addition, one of the company’s top malware analysts will be temporarily relocated to IGCI.
"The complex and ever-changing nature of the cyber-threat landscape requires high-level technical expertise, and it is essential that law enforcement collaborates across sectors to effectively combat cybercrime and enhance digital security,” said INTERPOL Secretary General Ronald Noble. “INTERPOL's agreement with Kaspersky Lab is a significant step forward towards forging a global alliance against cybercrime and ensuring that we provide our member countries with the most up-to-date support in addressing these threats."
The memorandum of understanding between Kaspersky Lab and Europol meanwhile will ensure closer cooperation in their common endeavors to fight and prevent cybercrime in Europe.
“This MoU is a very good basis and foundation for extending our already well-functioning cooperation with Kaspersky Lab in our common endeavors to fight and prevent cybercrime in Europe and beyond,” said Europol assistant director and EC3 head, Troels Oerting. “It is important that we join our efforts, share our expertise and knowledge, and pursue our common objective – having a free and transparent, but also secure, cyber-space. This is another big step in the right direction for all of us.”
Information-sharing will continue to be critical as cyber-criminals extend their tactic of attacking from shadowy, virtual locations, with a target area of 2.7 billion people, as Oertling told an audience at Check Point Experience in Barcelona in May.
“Securing the internet is a societal task,” he said. “Just like the air and the water that we share, we don’t allow anyone to pollute that, and we can’t allow the internet to be polluted. We rely on it.”