Global revenue for Moscow-based cybersecurity vendor Kaspersky Lab increased by 4 percent last year despite sales in North America falling by 25 percent, the company said.
The privately-owned Kaspersky reported an unaudited revenue of $726 million in 2018, thanks mostly to 27 percent growth in the Middle East, Turkey and Africa. Kaspersky also reported 55 percent growth in non-endpoint products and services. But the company also acknowledged that “the challenging geopolitical situation resulted in an overall slowdown in the North American market,” where sales fell by a quarter.
Kaspersky’s sales announcement, published Tuesday, offers a glimpse at how scrutiny from the U.S. government has affected the company. President Trump in 2017 signed legislation prohibiting the use of Kaspersky software on computers and devices on military and civilian networks. The FBI also pushed private sector companies away from using Kaspersky products.
U.S. officials have alleged Kaspersky is vulnerable to Russian influence, and that the company could use its reach to benefit the Kremlin.
Kaspersky has consistently denied any wrongdoing, and has offered to allow the U.S. to review the source code that undergirds the security software. The company also relocated its technology infrastructure to Switzerland last year.
“After all the challenges and unsubstantiated allegations we faced in 2017, we had a responsibility to show that the company and our people deserve the trust of our partners and customers, and in turn, to continue to clearly demonstrate and prove our leadership,” founder Eugene Kaspersky said this week. “Our continued positive financial results are proof of this, demonstrating that users prefer the best products and services on the market and support our principle of protecting against any cyberthreats regardless of their origin.”
Sales also fell in Latin America “caused mainly by currency devaluation in the region,” the company said.
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