Eugene Kaspersky probably hates malware just as much as you do on his own machines, but as the head of Kaspersky Labs, the world's largest privately held security software company, he might have a different perspective — the existence of malware and other forms of online malice drives the need for security software of all kinds, and not just on personal desktops or typical internet servers. The SCADA software vulnerabilities of the last few years have led him to announce work on an
operating system for industrial control systems of the kind affected by Flame and Stuxnet. But Kaspersky is not just toiling away in the computer equivalent of the CDC: He's been outspoken in his opinions — some of which have drawn ire on Slashdot, like
calling for mandatory "Internet ID" and an
"Internet Interpol". He's also
come out in favor of Internet voting, and against SOPA, even
pulling his company out of the BSA over it. More recently, he's been
criticized for ties to the current Russian government. (With regard to that Wired article, though, read
Kaspersky's detailed response to its claims.) Now, he's agreed to answer Slashdot readers' questions. As usual, you're encouraged to ask all the question you'd like, but
please confine your questions to one per post. We'll pass on the best of these for Kaspersky's answers.
Update: 12/04 14:20 GMT by
T : For more on Kaspersky's thoughts on the importance of online IDs,
see this detailed blog posting.