Kaspersky CEO leads calls for greater collaboration in fight against cyber crime

Kaspersky's CEO has called for better cooperation between government agencies and the private sector on cyber security issues, citing imminent threats to critical infrastructure unless action is taken now. 

In a speech given last night at the Churchill War rooms, Eugene Kaspersky, the CEO and co-founder of the internet security software company, addressed the threat of cyber attacks to a crowd of UK Government officials and affiliates.

 Attendees included representatives from the City of London Police, and the National Fraud Authority.

"Cyber weapons have the power to disable companies, cripple governments, and bring whole nations to their knees by attacking critical infrastructure in sectors such as communications, finance, transportation and utilities." said Kaspersky.

"The consequences for human populations could be literally catastrophic."

The speech follows on from a recent announcement about Kaspersky's new partnership with the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL), which is designed to help countries protect themselves against online threats.

In the last two years alone, Kaspersky has stepped up its analysis of some 200,000 unique malware samples per day, compared to just several hundred in previous years.

Kaspersky also stressed that - in order for there to be effective monitoring of these threats in the UK the recently announced Cyber Security Information Sharing Partnership (CISP) and the National Crime agency needed to cooperate with the European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA) to protect against threats of "increasing sophistication."

Above all, Kaspersky believes that ongoing education for those fighting these threats remains key to remaining one step ahead of them.

"Greater investment in education from both government and industry is needed to ensure a continuous flow of talent rising up through the ranks," he added.