Natalya Ivanovna Kasperskaya (, née Stutser (Штуцер); born 5 February 1966), better known as Natalya Kaspersky is a Russian IT entrepreneur, President of the InfoWatch Group of companies and co-founder and former CEO of antivirus security software company Kaspersky Lab.Касперская Наталья , reference of 'Rossiya Segodnya' news agency. In addition, she is one of the wealthiest women in RussiaТофанюк, Е.; Мирсияпова, Х. Богатейшие женщины России — 2013: рейтинг Forbes Woman. — 'Forbes Woman', 22 August 2013. and one of the most influential figures in the Russian IT industry.Der Vorstand der Deutsch-Russischen Auslandshandelskammer . — 'Deutsch-Russische Auslandshandelskammer' (AHK) official site.Наталья Касперская встретилась со студентами факультета. — National Research University – Higher School of Economics, 17 September 2015.

Biography

Early years Natalya Kaspersky (née Stutser)Наталья Касперская, reference of 'Forbes'. was born on 5 February 1966 in Moscow into a family of engineers and Soviet defense research institute employees.Kасперская Наталья Ивановна, reference of 'CNews'.

Natalya was elected as a member of her school pioneer council, and later as a member of the district pioneer headquarters, and was also a Komsomol member and organizer. Alongside her main education, Natalya also played basketball in the Children's and Youth Sports School and seriously intended to become a veterinarian until giving up on the dream because of difficulties with studying chemistry.Кузьмичёв, А. Фанаты бизнеса. Истории о тех, кто строит наше будущее. — Moscow: 'Eksmo', 2011. — 384 p. —

In the eighth year of her education, Natalya moved from an ordinary secondary school to a physics-mathematical school run by the Moscow Aviation Institute.

Education After finishing this school, Natalya took the entrance exams for the Lomonosov Moscow State University but was not enrolled, missing out by half a point. However, her results were good enough to gain entry into the Moscow Institute of Electronic Machine Building (MIEM),Наталья Касперская: «Я человек скорее ведомый, чем ведущий». — «Жена. История любви». Talk show of Kira Proshutinskaya on 'TV Tsentr' channel. — 25 January 2012. where she studied applied mathematics (1984-1989), and the topic of her diploma was a mathematical model of a nuclear reactor cooling system. Later, she earned a bachelor's degree from the Open University in the UK. During her studies at the MIEM, she met her first husband Eugene Kaspersky, whom she married in 1986.

Career After graduating from the institute, Natalya was assigned to the Central Scientific and Construction Bureau in Moscow,50 самых успешных женщин. — 'Finance' magazine, 7—13 March 2005. — # 9 (99). — P. 17. where she worked for half a year as a research scientist before going on maternity leave. Natalya started her career in IT at the age of 28,Краснова, А. Опра Уинфри, Маша Шарапова и другие самые богатые женщины, заработавшие сами. — 'Cosmopolitan' magazine, 26 August 2015. when she took on a job, in January 1994, as a salesperson for a computer accessories and software firm with a 50-dollar monthly salary. The job was based in a newly opened store in the KAMI Information Technologies Center created by a former professor of Natalya's ex-husband, Eugene Kaspersky, from a Higher School of the KGB during the Soviet epoch. She believes that all personal data, such as search history, geolocation, contacts, correspondence, photo and video materials, should belong to the State.Касперская: "большие данные россиян" должны принадлежать государству

Kaspersky Lab In September 1994, Natalya became head of a distribution department of AntiViral Toolkit Pro (AVP), which had been under development by Eugene Kaspersky's team since 1991. Over two or three years, Natalya successfully built distribution channels and a technical support network and entered international markets, with sales growing rapidly from an initial $100–200 per month in 1994, to more than $130,000 after a year, over $600,000 in 1996 and more than $1 million in 1997.Наталья Касперская: В семье не без работы. — 'Business class' magazine, 6 May 2014. Revenue was divided between the team and the mother company until 1997, when the future founders of 'Kaspersky Lab' decided to start their own business.

Natalya launched the Kaspersky Lab foundation in June 1997, was key to the naming of the new company, and worked as CEO for more than 10 years. Shares in 'Kaspersky Lab' were initially split between Eugene Kaspersky (50%), his two teammate programmers Alexey De-Monderik and Vadim Bogdanov (20% each), and Natalya Kasperskaya (10%).Седаков, П.; Филонов, Д. Вирус Касперского: как бизнес Kaspersky Lab захватил 200 стран мира. — 'Forbes', 19 May 2014. In 1997, Kaspersky Lab sales started to double yearly, with turnover reaching around $7 million in 2001 and exceeding $67 million in 2006.Скрипников, С. «Разошлись» повторно. — 'Expert' magazine, 10 August 2007.Агарунов, Д. Интервью с Натальей Касперской. — 'Hacker' magazine, 29 December 2014.

In August 2007, Natalya was unseated and suspended from her key management functions by Eugene Kaspersky due to the couple's divorce and the deepening ideological divide between the two. Eventually, Natalya agreed to stay on as Chairperson of the newly established board of 'Kaspersky Lab', before finally breaking all ties with the previously family driven business in 2011,Леди Рунета: Наталья Касперская. — 'TheRunet', 2 October 2013. with Kaspersky Lab buying out Natalya's stake in the company in 2007 and 2011 (around 30% of shares in 2007).

Under Natalya's supervision, Kaspersky Lab turned into a leading antivirus corporation with a network of regional offices worldwide. At the moment of the power change in 2007, annual sales revenue had reached $126 million, while the company had an estimated capitalization of over $1.3 billion and yearly revenue of $700 million by 2011, when Natalya sold her remaining stake and departed.Цуканов, И.; Голицына, А. «Лаборатория Касперского» распрощалась с миноритарием. — 'Vedomosti' newspaper, 6 February 2012. After the change in management, the company's rate of growth dropped visibly, with global revenue growing by 40% in 2009, 13.7% in 2011, 3% in 2012, and 6% in 2013.

InfoWatch After 'Kaspersky Lab' had bought the antispam technology developed by 'Ashmanov and Partners', the head of the latter, Igor Ashmanov, gave the buyer an idea to use the antispam engine backwards for protection against data leaks.Панфилов, К. Наталья Касперская, InfoWatch: «Если у вас есть шанс выжить — не привлекайте инвесторов» . — 'VC.ru', 8 July 2015. During 2001–2002, 'Kaspersky Lab' programmers developed a solution which later became known as InfoWatch Traffic Monitor Enterprise and which offers protection for corporate users against internal threats (a DLP system). In December 2013, a subsidiary called 'InfoWatch' was established to develop and distribute new software.История компании . — 'InfoWatch' official site.

Natalya Kasperskaya has been CEO and majority owner of 'InfoWatch' since October 2007, with her stake in the company being linked to the business separation deal with her ex-husband. Natalya made her main investments in 'InfoWatch', 'Kribrum' and 'Nanosemantics' co-owned by her and Igor Ashmanov, and 'G Data Software' AG, a German antivirus company.Наталья Касперская инвестировала в антивирусную компанию G Data Software AG . — 'InfoWatch' official site, 15 October 2012.

'InfoWatch' software had only vague prospects at the time of the spin-off and was an albatross around 'Kaspersky Lab's neck. Unlike 'Kaspersky Lab', the technological solutions and product line of the new company were initially targeted at large and medium enterprises, starting from 300 workstations, rather than small businesses and retailers.

This required a fundamentally different skill set and approach, with Natalya's previous experience in management turning out not to be particularly relevant. Nevertheless, in 2012 InfoWatch, which was previously unprofitable, recorded its first earnings and went on growing at an annual rate of 60—70%.Наталья Касперская, InfoWatch: Я не могу вспомнить какие-то серьёзные препоны со стороны государства. — 'Roem.ru', 4 September 2015. According to 'Forbes', InfoWatch annual revenue reached around $12 million in 2015, with independent experts polled by Russian daily newspaper 'Kommersant' in spring 2015 estimating the business to be worth $40–50 million.

As of 2015, InfoWatch is a group of companies working in two main business areas — corporate protection against internal threats and external targeted attacks — and holds nearly a 50% share of the Russian confidential data protection market (DLP systems).Наталья Касперская (InfoWatch): «Строить концепцию по импортозамещению на основе только софта — бессмысленно» . — 'РСпектр', 20 January 2015. Its clients include Russian governmental organizations, as well as 'Sberbank', 'Beeline', 'Lukoil', 'Tatneft', 'Surgutneftegas', 'Sukhoi', 'Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works'.Корзун, С. Наталья Касперская, CEO InfoWatch. Система защиты от утечек (DLP): когда уходим — остаётся наш работающий софт и всё аккуратно разложено по полочкам . — 'Json.tv', 3 July 2015. In addition, InfoWatch operates in the German, Middle East, and South-East Asian markets.

Current InfoWatch shareholders are Natalya Kasperskaya and the company's Deputy CEO Rustem Khairetdinov.

Achievements

Private fortune According to Forbes, Natalya Kasperskaya had a fortune of around $220 million in March 2013 – an estimate which increased to $230 million in 2014 and $270 million in 2015. In March 2015, Russian news portal 'Lenta.ru' agreed with Forbes’ 2014 estimation while, in July 2015, German magazine 'Der Spiegel' published an estimation of €207 million.Локшин, П.; Шепп, М. С гранатой в сумочке от Dior . — 'Der Spiegel' magazine, 10 July 2015. Finally, in August of the same year, women's magazine 'Cosmopolitan' published an estimate of $270 million.

According to 'Der Spiegel', the majority of Natalya Kasperskaya's fortune is in the form of funds derived from asset sales. As for Kaspersky herself, in October 2015, in response to the question as to whether the 'Forbes' calculations are accurate, she emphasized that her company is non-public and thus has no need to reveal its level of capitalization, while adding that “it is nevertheless good to see that people seem to appreciate the value of 'InfoWatch'”.Кто следит за вами: ФСБ или ваш телефон. — Talk show Hard Day’s Night on TV channel 'TV Rain', 13 October 2015.

Ratings and awards  Top management rating (IT nomination),     according to 'Kommersant' newspaper     and Association of Russian Managers #3 (2009),Рейтинг высших руководителей 2009. — 'Kommersant' newspaper, 28 September 2009.#2 (2010),Рейтинг высших руководителей 2010. — 'Kommersant' newspaper, 23 September 2010.#4 (2011),Рейтинг высших руководителей 2011. — 'Kommersant' newspaper, 20 September 2011. #1 (2013),Рейтинг высших руководителей 2013. — 'Kommersant' newspaper, 18 September 2013.#1 (2014),Рейтинг высших руководителей 2014. — 'Kommersant' newspaper, 17 September 2014.#4 (2015).Рейтинг высших руководителей 2015. — 'Kommersant' newspaper, 16 September 2015.  100 most influential women in Russia,     according to 'Echo of Moscow' radio #66 (2012),100 самых влиятельных женщин России. — 'Echo of Moscow' radio, 23 January 2012.#74 (2013),100 самых влиятельных женщин России. — 'Echo of Moscow' radio, 4 March 2013.#81 (2014),100 самых влиятельных женщин России — рейтинг. — 'Echo of Moscow' radio, 3 March 2014.#62 (2015).100 самых влиятельных женщин России — рейтинг. — 'Echo of Moscow' radio, 8 March 2015.