Russian antivirus software developer Kaspersky Laboratories is looking to expand in Chile next year due to the country's high rate of IT penetration, the company's Latin American and Caribbean VP Alejandro Musgrove told BNamericas.
Related content
Musgrove said the company was looking to protect security gaps created by more advanced technology use.
While Kaspersky is considering opening offices in Chile and in other parts of Latin America, Musgrove said the company would also be focusing on consolidating its presence through strengthening its channel partner training programs.
Further, the company recently formed a marketing team to focus on Latin America, which will work from the company's offices in Miami, he added.
INTERNET PENETRATION BRINGS NEW THREATS
Dmitry Bestuzhev, Kaspersky's virus analyst for Latin America, told a gathering of reporters that Chile's high internet penetration is the main driver behind IT security threats in the country.
The majority of the malicious events recorded in Chile come from Trojan attacks, he said, adding that the threats are widespread in e-banking and e-payment services.
Kaspersky expects sales in Latin America to grow 250% compared to 2007, when revenues doubled the total from 2006. All of Kaspersky's sales in the region are through distributors.
Meanwhile, global revenues this year are projected to top out at US$350mn, which represents an 80% year-on-year increase.
CHILE LAGGING BEHIND IN SECURITY
Carina Löbel, senior analyst for software and IT services at IDC Chile, recently told BNamericas that Chile lags behind other countries in terms of IT security investments. She said that Chilean companies spent only 3.8% of IT investments in security, in comparison to the Latin American average of 6%.
IDC surveyed 82 Chilean firms last year, and found that 62% of them suffered 1-9 successful hacks, with the telecoms, government and finance sectors the ones that received the highest number of attacks.
Meanwhile the consultancy reported that the Chilean IT security market, including software and appliances, was worth US$12mn in 2007, while the region total was US$319mn. The estimated compound annual growth rate for this market in Chile is 13.8% until 2012, while the Latin American average reaches 18.2%.
