The security company Kaspersky has announced its new transparency initiative through which it will allow independent review of its source code by recognized authorities. They will also create three transparency centers in Asia, Europe and the United States so governments and companies can review it as well.
The company will also ask the cybersecurity community for testimonies about the validity of its software and offer rewards of up to $ 100,000 for vulnerabilities discovered , before the announcement paid a maximum of $ 5,000.
This is basically the company’s last strategy to try to wash its image and make it clear that they are not spies of the Russian government or any other. Kaspersky is involved in a huge controversy in the United States. After a report claimed to have collaborated with Russian intelligence, the Trump administration ordered the company’s software to be removed from all government equipment .
We are not spies, but they used us to spy
The last drop in a glass that was already overflowing, was the discovery by Israeli spies that Kaspersky had been serving as a tool of espionagein the United States because the Russians had hacked their network.
Whether or not Kaspersky knew about this back door is another story, but the reputation of the company is suffering more and more . Not only the US government has closed all doors within the public administration, but several stores in that country have withdrawn their products from the sale.
Eugene Kaspersky, CEO of the company said they want to show how they are completely open and transparent.
We have nothing to hide. And I believe that with these actions we will be able to overcome the distrust and reinforce our commitment to protect people in any country of our planet.
The CEO also stressed the Balkanization of the Internet does not benefit anyone but the cybercrimes. As Interpol believes that the reduced cooperation between countries and the public and private sectors does not benefit anyone and weakens the cybersecurity community , while criminals do collaborate with each other.