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By Trend

Trend News Agency interviewed head of the Azerbaijani representative office of Kaspersky Lab in Azerbaijan Mushvig Mammadov.

How long has Kaspersky Lab been operating in Azerbaijan?

As an official representative, I started to work in Azerbaijan in 2015. But the company's solutions have been available to users of this region for more than 15 years. They were simply offered earlier through the offices in other countries.

What share of the antivirus protection market does your company hold in Azerbaijan? Are there any plans to expand activity?

The positions of Kaspersky Lab are quite strong in the Azerbaijani market and we expect to further strengthen our activity. We entered into a partnership agreement with AzInTelecom company at the beginning of this year. Together we ensure cyber protection for corporate cloud infrastructures, virtual environment and physical servers.

Do you work more with the public sector or private sector?

We are ready to offer solutions for any companies beginning from small businesses and ending with international corporations. Of course, first of all, the organizations, having a responsible attitude to the work with information and internal processes, think about the need to create an integrated cyber defense system. Accordingly, we work more with the state and big companies. Presently, we are witnessing the development of private business and intend to actively work in this sector.

Which of your products is in greatest demand in Azerbaijan?

Azerbaijan still thinks more about endpoint protection, therefore, users prefer Kaspersky Internet Security, while businessmen - Kaspersky Security for Business.

The companies show great interest in other solutions during one year and a half, namely, training for employees to improve digital literacy, protection of emails, protection against complex targeted attacks, security of virtual and cloud environment.

Which sectors are most exposed to cyber attacks in Azerbaijan? What is the loudest attack in recent years?

It is important to understand that most of malicious objects are distributed gradually, therefore all sectors are exposed to cyber attacks. According to our statistics, 20 percent of private users and 11 percent of corporate users in Azerbaijan encountered internet threats in January-May 2019. That is why everyone should think about antivirus protection.

The most difficult attack that we have observed recently in Azerbaijan is MuddyWater. The main targets of this attack are the state and military structures, telecommunications companies and educational institutions worldwide. The attackers send out personalized phishing emails by attaching an Office document. If a user opens an email, the program asks to activate the built-in macros. In case of a user’s consent, the device is infected. (Technical details - https://securelist.com/muddywater/88059/ ) As a result of an attack, a backdoor - malware that allows to remotely infecting a device is installed on computers.

How vulnerable are financial institutions, including banks in Azerbaijan?

Banks have a very responsible attitude to cyber defense. They constantly invest in security systems. That’s why the number of successful cyberattacks is relatively small. But as financial institutions are an attractive target for attackers, the risk of such attacks remains high.

According to our experience, most often financial institutions face with malware attacks, phishing attacks, attacks on bank customers, attacks on ATMs, etc. Most of these threats are prevented after the introduction of protective solutions. But, of course, much attention should be paid to the protection against targeted attacks and the work with the weakest component in any organization - people.

Are there Kaspersky Lab solutions for industry in Azerbaijan?

We have a big portfolio of solutions for industry that we are ready to offer in Azerbaijan, namely, analytical reports of our industrial Kaspersky ICS CERT, incident response services and technologies and services for protecting all levels of production systems, including SCADA servers, operator panels, engineering workstations, programmable logic controllers, network connections and personal equipment. The main advantage of our specialized products is the preservation of the continuity and stability of technological processes.

What are the plans for Kaspersky Lab’s business development in Azerbaijan for the coming years?

As I have already said, we plan to develop the activity in all spheres, including an increase in the client base of our products for the protection of end devices and offering of specialized services for various spheres. This includes retail, finance, industry, as well as private users.

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