US government spy stories have not been enough to scare off Kaspersky’s global customers.
Cybersecurity vendor Kaspersky reported annual revenue of $726 million for 2018, despite a downturn in sales in the North American market.
The figure represents four percent year-on-year global growth for the company, with all regions – apart from the North American market – reporting increased sales.
The Middle East, Turkey and Africa (META) region saw the most growth, with 27 per cent with Russia, APAC and Europe all reporting a six percent increase in sales.
Kaspersky saw sales decline in the Americas, with Latin America witnessing an 11 percent decrease in revenue, which the vendor claims were due to currency devaluation in the region.
Sales in North America fell by 25 per cent, which Kaspersky attributed to the “challenging geopolitical situation.” Oddly there was an eight per cent rise in new digital licence sales in the North American market.
In 2017, the US government ordered all its departments to remove the vendor’s software from their systems, claiming there were ties between “certain Kaspersky officials and Russian intelligence”.
Those actions caused the vendor to shutter its Washington office. Last year, a resolution by the European Parliament was passed calling on an EU ban on Kaspersky’s wares, causing the firm to freeze its co-operation with European organisations such as Europol.
CEO Eugene Kaspersky said 2018 was a “crucial” year for the company.
“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 demonstrate and prove our leadership clearly”, he stated.
“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.”
