Kaspersky graduated from The Technical Faculty of the KGB Higher School in 1987 with a degree in mathematical engineering and computer technology.

[1] Kaspersky's interest in IT security began in 1989, when his PC was infected by the Cascade virus,[16][17] while working for the Ministry of Defence.

[1] In 1991, Kaspersky was granted an early release from his military service[5] and left the defense ministry to take a job at the Information Technology Center of a private company KAMI, in order to work on his antivirus product full-time.

[14] Initially he told his team not to discuss cyber-terrorism publicly, to avoid giving governments ideas on how to sabotage their political opponents.

They also exposed Equation Group, which developed advanced spyware for monitoring computer use and was believed to be affiliated with the National Security Agency in the U.S.[27] According to The Economist, it was these discoveries, Kaspersky's "relentless salesmanship" and the company's anti-virus product that made Kaspersky Lab uncommon as an internationally recognized Russian company.

[28] In early 2009, CRN said his personality contributed to the company's growth from "relative obscurity to now nipping at the heels of its larger, better-known rivals."

[29] In 2011, Kaspersky made a decision against taking the company public, saying it would make decision-making slow and prevent long-term R&D investments.

In 2012, it was the only one of 35 firms named in a suit by patent troll Information Protection and Authentication (IPAC) to take the case to court, rather than pay a fee.

[33] Kaspersky himself is the co-author of several patents, including one for a constraint-and-attribute-based security system for controlling software component interaction.

[14][25] Kaspersky said anonymity on the Internet could be protected by using a proxy, whereby a responsible international body maintains a record of which online identities correspond to which real-world ones.

[5] Some security experts believe that a centralized database of the real-world identities of Internet users would be "a privacy disaster and a highly attractive target for thieves.

"[5] The Age said it "sounds a little too close for comfort to a Big Brother scenario"[5] and Wired said Kaspersky's views were highly aligned with the Russian government's agenda.

He proposes "special proxies" for red zone websites that allow disclosure of the user's identity only in the case of suspected malfeasance.

Russian telecommunications companies for example are required by federal law in Russia to cooperate with the government's military and spy operations if asked.

Kaspersky said his company has never been asked to tamper with its software for espionage[14] and called the accusations "cold war paranoia".

[38] According to Wired, Kaspersky staffers argue "not unconvincingly" that spying on users would hurt its business and its relationship with the Russian FSB, the KGB's successor, is limited.

[14] According to Gartner, "There's no evidence that they have any back doors in their software or any ties to the Russian mafia or state... but there is still a concern that you can't operate in Russia without being controlled by the ruling party.

According to the publication, "high-level managers have left or been fired, their jobs often filled by people with closer ties to Russia's military or intelligence services.

[citation needed] For example, he allegedly ignored or downplayed a series of denial-of-service attacks in December 2011 that were made to disrupt online discussion criticizing Russian politicians.

[14][4] Kaspersky also allegedly ignored a Russian-based spyware called Sofacy, which is believed to have been used by Russia against NATO and Eastern Europe.

[43] A March 2015 article in Bloomberg said an increasing number of executive staff at Kaspersky Lab previously worked for Russian military and intelligence agencies.

[43] NPR reported that Kaspersky has been doing an increasing amount of business with Russian cybersecurity agencies to catch cybercriminals.

[27][38] In May 2017, the allegations resurfaced when US National Security Agency (NSA) director Mike Rogers told a US Senate Intelligence committee that the NSA was reviewing the US government's use of Kaspersky software for fear it would allow Russian intelligence services to conduct spy operations or launch cyber attacks against American digital infrastructure.

[51] Alleging connections to Russian intelligence, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in 2017 banned Kaspersky's main antivirus product from U.S. federal networks.

"[52] Kaspersky is one of many Russian oligarchs named in the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, CAATSA, signed into law by President Donald Trump in 2017.

[53] In August 2015, two former Kaspersky employees alleged that the company introduced modified files into the VirusTotal community anti-virus database to trick its rivals' programs into triggering false positives.

The allegations also claimed that Kaspersky himself had ordered some of the actions, specifically targeting competitors, including Chinese companies he felt were copying his software.

[69] He sponsors various "quirky or scientific projects"[4] such as the Ferrari Formula One racing team[14][70] or archaeological excavations in Akrotiri (prehistoric city).