Eugene Kaspersky, General Director of Kaspersky Lab, in an interview with the Arab Technical News Portal, gave “golden” information about digital immunity, cybersecurity and its future, and also spoke in detail about the new KasperskyOS operating system, which is the first of its kind in the world.

* What reasons prompted Kaspersky to develop a new secure operating system? What is the nature of the difference between it and other secure operating systems on the market?

** The cyber threat landscape is becoming more complex and evolving from year to year, and today’s cybercriminals are more advanced than ever with their skills, determination, and motivation to harm businesses with their high-profile attacks targeting various sectors, including: healthcare healthcare, information and communication technology, financial services, industrial facilities, critical infrastructure, etc. Thus, there is no longer a safe sector that would fully enjoy complete immunity.

In these dangerous conditions, the traditional approach to cybersecurity in IT systems becomes less effective at some point, and this justifies the urgent need to find new ways to improve IT security.

In response to these challenges, we have created a fundamentally new concept of protecting IT solutions, or what can be called “digital immunity”. And if cybersecurity is just a response, “digital immunity” can be defined as a proactive concept that is safe for any project.

Based on this, we developed from scratch the Kaspersky Lab’s operating system KasperskyOS, which is a platform for creating digital security products. Its architecture is based on the division of various components into many isolated modules. Assuming that cybercriminals only gain access to the component, they will not be able to perform malicious actions that affect the operation of the system in any way. And this is the main difference and the main advantage of KasperskyOS. To achieve digital immunity when using this system, solution developers need to follow a special methodology.

*Can you give some examples of critical infrastructures that could benefit from using KasperskyOS? What mechanisms does the system use to solve unique security problems?

**We can protect many important infrastructure components such as power plants, transportation systems, oil and gas facilities and more.

Knowing that our current digital age involves the use of modern industrial facilities and is characterized by many intelligent digital devices. The more of them inside an IT system, the lower the level of protection that this system provides. Sometimes these devices can serve as entry points to the entire IT system. Camcorders are the most common example.

Products and solutions based on the KasperskyOS operating system provide the answer you need. For example, Kaspersky IoT Security Gateway provides the necessary protection for the perimeter of any factory or any specific department within it, thus ensuring that all the various smart devices inside are protected.

Kaspersky Secure Remote Workspace can also be used to protect the entire customer infrastructure, meaning there is no need to protect each workstation individually.

*How does KasperskyOS use kernel microarchitecture to improve security and what are the benefits of this approach?

**The operating system microkernel is the main component responsible for communication between user applications and hardware.

KasperskyOS is based on a kernel developed by our company, written from scratch, and does not use the Linux kernel code. If we take a closer look at the term “microkernel” itself, we find that it indicates that the most important system operating mechanisms reside only within the kernel, while the least important functions reside in normal applications.

This design makes it much easier; Because it ensures that the kernel code is free from bugs and vulnerabilities and the attack surface is very limited. For comparison: the microkernel of KasperskyOS consists of 100,000 lines of code, while a monolithic kernel can contain tens of millions of lines.

*How does the KasperskyOS security module work? And how does an approved code guarantee its operation in the system?

**KasperskyOS components are divided into isolated security domains that cannot interact directly, but interact through the microkernel, and the Kaspersky Lab security system checks all these interactions and issues a security conclusion for each of them.

Any action not allowed by a security policy is blocked until it is performed, and the default deny principle used in this process allows you to create security policies that best suit your specific security goals, while ensuring that processes that can represent explicit risk for the system is locked.

*Can KasperskyOS be used with other security products such as firewalls and antivirus software to provide a higher level of protection?

**Our operating system allows you to create IT systems, and although cybercriminals may affect one or more untrusted components, they may not launch an attack or affect the operation of critical functions in the system.

This is unlikely to affect trusted components given the minimal, well-tested trusted computing base. Therefore, it is not essential to use antivirus software to provide a basic level of security for the entire system.

We have developed our operating system specifically for devices where antivirus cannot be installed, such as Kaspersky Secure Gateway 100, Kaspersky Secure Gateway 1000 or Kaspersky Thin Client.

How does Kaspersky Lab plan to sell and distribute its operating system? Which organizations do you consider as potential clients?

**Our system is especially useful for industrial and critical infrastructure sectors where IT systems place high demands on cyber security, reliability and predictability.

In response, we started with Kaspersky IoT Infrastructure Security and then launched Kaspersky Secure Remote Workspace to secure remote workstations. We are currently developing a solution that can protect connected cars. We are also currently conducting extensive research that may lead to porting our operating system to mobile platforms.

We are focused on expanding our portfolio, moving from the industrial sector and smart city infrastructure to edge devices and connected transport. Thus, the circle of clients with whom we work is constantly expanding along with their base.

At the same time, we do not miss the work of expanding our network of partners in the technology sector, because together we create products based on this system.

As a software development company, we are always looking for hardware vendors to build long-term strategic partnerships. For example, last year we signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Centerm, the world’s leading manufacturer of thin clients.

We also view our partnerships with enterprise software vendors as one of our top priorities, recognizing the important role applications play in the functionality of Digital Immunity solutions. The more hardware platforms and security technology applications that Kaspersky Lab develops, the more opportunities we have to tailor them to the specific requirements of our local customers.

* What kind of training or support will be available for organizations using KasperskyOS? What experience is required to manage the system?

**Customers don’t just use KasperskyOS, they choose solutions that meet their cybersecurity needs above all else. We believe that the market is ready for solutions within the digital immunity system.

In addition, we see a high demand for solutions that are easy to use and deploy, yet demonstrate a very high level of security and protection. Users seek protection from cyber threats intuitively, not out of the need to fix security vulnerabilities when they are discovered.

We believe that “digital immunity” is the best way to achieve both of these goals.

*How did Kaspersky Lab ensure the integrity and security of its KasperskyOS operating system during development? And what kind of testing did you do to verify its security features?

**The source code for this system is constantly subjected to various types of tests, including obfuscation, an automated software testing technique that uses incorrect, unexpected, or random data. On the other hand, some of the most important components are subject to formal verification and verification of security models.

The code is also subjected to static and dynamic analysis, we regularly conduct penetration tests, and we also plan a bounty program to encourage finding bugs.


*What feedback did you get from early users of KasperskyOS? And what results have they documented in terms of improving security and protecting against cyberattacks?

**We are not talking here about accepting our operating system as is, but about those who have adopted products and solutions based on it, or those who have already tested it.

For example, we receive feedback from customers using Kaspersky IoT Secure Gateway 100 and Kaspersky Secure Gateway 1000, which securely collect domain data and then transfer it to digital platforms so that customers always have a complete and reliable picture of their devices and workflows. They can use this knowledge to create new business models, perform the best possible accident-free maintenance, and more.

Together with the firewall capabilities offered by our gateways, customers can be confident in the cybersecurity of both data and infrastructure, services that are highly valued by our customers.

*How does Kaspersky Lab plan to continue to innovate and improve its KasperskyOS operating system so that it can respond to evolving cyber threats and the changing needs of critical infrastructure systems?

**Our operating system KasperskyOS is a platform for creating products with “digital immunity”, and this is done according to a certain methodology. These products have “innate” protection against most types of cyber attacks. In fact, by adopting a “digital immunity” approach, we have moved from virus models to fighting them, and from vulnerabilities to fixing them, and we see this as a real achievement.

Our goals can be summarized as follows:

(1) By offering our KasperskyOS operating system as a platform for creating products for a wide range of industries with increased cybersecurity requirements.

(2) Highlight our strengths.

and (iii) emphasizing the fact that it can be cheaper to build “digital immunity” products on our operating system than similar secure projects using previous generation specialized operating systems.

Through collaboration with our technology partners, we have already released initial commercial versions and continue to explore new opportunities.

We believe that Kaspersky Lab’s Digital Immunity approach represents the future of cybersecurity, all the way to laying the foundation for the next level of protection and security in the digital world.

Previous articleWhat’s New on Hulu in April, 2023
Next articleWhat’s New on HBO Max in April, 2023
Clayton Turner is a news reporter and copy editor for 24PalNews. Born and raised in Virginia, Clayton graduated from Virginia Tech’s Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy and majored in journalism.

Leave a Reply