Engagement with local communities
We consider the needs of those who require our support. Kaspersky works with federal and regional charitable foundations, helps people with serious illnesses and vulnerable population groups, and strives to involve its employees in such activities.
In accordance with Kaspersky’s internal charity policy, the ESG & Sustainability department determines:
- The main focuses of the Company’s charitable activities
- The criteria and procedure for interaction with NPOs when developing, selecting and implementing charitable projects and events
- The procedures for the donation of product licenses for security solutions and IT equipment
In summer 2023, we created a dedicated CSR page on our intranet, which features all the relevant information about our sustainable development activities, a complete list of our partners (charitable foundations, NPOs and educational institutions), the amount of financial support provided and a list of volunteer projects that our employees can join.
The Company also supports an orphanage and a school in Tver, educational institutions and NPOs that arrange care for orphans, help victims of violence (including digital violence) and people with disabilities and serious illnesses, as well as NPOs that protect the environment and raise awareness about blood donations, ecology and other sustainable development topics.
Kaspersky supports more than 10 charitable foundations and NPOs in Russia – both federal (Gift of Life, Vera and Sindrom Lyubvi) as well as specialized and regional organizations (Igra, the Nizhny Novgorod Women’s Crisis Center and Zhivi). The Company seeks to build long‑term partnerships with foundations and NPOs by sponsoring their events and organizing volunteer projects, including pro bono activities.
We also provide administrative and financial support to an orphanage in Udomlya and Tver School No. 4, a specialized school for children with psychological development impairments, autism spectrum disorders and musculoskeletal disorders. We assist these institutions with making repairs inside their buildings, purchasing of equipment, household appliances and chemicals, clothing, shoes and school supplies for foster children, as well as organize summer vacation trips for them. We help the Udomlya orphanage since 2014 after a group of Kaspersky volunteers along with their friends and relatives began traveling to Udomlya and got acquainted with the staff, children and their needs. Since then, our visits have become a tradition: four times a year we visit the orphanage, organize master classes, play games and take walks together. Each summer, we organize a two‑day camping trip for the children.
In addition, the Company provides support to disaster victims, the elderly and people in difficult life situations.
In February 2023, Kaspersky allocated a budget of 390,000 Turkish lira for organizations helping earthquake victims: the Turkish Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD), NPO Ahbap and the Turkish IT society Türkiye Bilişim Derneği (TBD). Our Turkey office colleagues sent a van of drinking water and power banks to the region affected by the earthquake. In September 2023, the Company allocated US$10,000 to support the well‑being and quality education for youth and adolescents affected by the Al Haouz earthquake in Morocco. Kaspersky also partnered with SOS Children’s Villages to fund a portion of the operational costs associated with the development of IT Centers in the region.
Social and charitable projects
Each year, we encourage fundraising efforts among our employees to support activities organized by our NPO partners and coordinate our own events around significant awareness dates or national holidays. From January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2023, our employees in Russia donated more than
In early 2022, Kaspersky joined the Business Council on Disability Issues created by Perspektiva, a Regional Public Organization for People with Disabilities, and for the first time took part in a summer job fair for applicants with disabilities. The Company continued to support this event in 2023.
In autumn 2022, on International Day of Persons with Disabilities, the Company launched an internal special project aimed at destigmatizing the topic of inclusive employment “The Boundaries We Push”. We dedicated it to the professional and personal journeys of Kaspersky employees with disabilities. In 2023, we took the project further by creating a new online project Impossible, where this time both our employees with disabilities and those raising children with disabilities shared their personal stories. This marked the first time that the project became public, since we believe it is important to talk openly about complex and difficult subjects in order to remind people about the value of mutual support.
That same autumn, we began sharing updates about our charitable initiatives, as well as our social and volunteer projects on our social media accounts. The Kaspersky Daily telegram channel now has a dedicated CSR digest released every three months. In addition, Kaspersky supported the International Disability Film Festival Breaking Down Barriers organized by the Perspectiva Regional Public Organization. In winter 2022/2023, the Company together with the Gift of Life Foundation helped to open a playroom for young patients undergoing treatment at the radiation therapy department of the Morozov Hospital.
In May and December 2023, we helped organize business breakfast events for the Business Council on Disability Issues. The first event was devoted to the topic “First steps when hiring an employee with a disability: creating the right conditions within the company.” In December, the business breakfast participants discussed the topic “Employment of applicants with disabilities: communication and training of management and responsible employees.” Both events were attended by 30 representatives of companies, members of the council.
In November 2023, we began taking part in Technologies for Good, a federal project being implemented by Sovcombank and Skolkovo Fintech Hub to provide infrastructure support and ensure the digital development of NPOs and charitable foundations in Russia. The project provides socially oriented organizations with the products and services they need free of charge or on special terms. As part of the project, we provide complimentary licenses for Kaspersky’s products. Eleven NPOs received free licenses in 2023.
In 2024, we plan to issue special learning materials on the basics of computer literacy together with the Sindrom Lyubvi Foundation. These easy‑to‑read cards will make it easier for people with mental disabilities to get a better understanding of this important topic.
We strive to enhance the accessibility of our products and services for people with disabilities. To this end, we are working on updating our products to make them easier for people with disabilities to use.
In 2023, we made a number of improvements to our products. Kaspersky for Windows now supports high contrast mode. The update improved readability, element brightness and navigation, making the app experience more efficient and comfortable for color‑blind users.
Kaspersky for Mac is now fully compatible with macOS Dark Mode and Display Settings, which make it possible to customize your experience to suit individual preferences. In addition, Kaspersky for Mac includes VoiceOver, which provides accessibility for users with visual impairments.
Our contribution to the career development of young professionals with disabilities
- Participants from 22 Russian cities
- 8 mentors
- 6 weeks of online practice
In November 2023, along with other companies, Kaspersky took part in the “Try a real profession” program, which was organized by our partner “Perspektiva”, a regional NPO dedicated to enabling individuals with disabilities to access education and employment opportunities. The program aims to help students and graduates with disabilities realize their potential by immersing themselves in their future profession with a dedicated mentor.
Recent graduates and senior year students interested in the following field of work were invited to participate in the program:
- IT
- Economics/Finance
- Law
- Marketing
- HR
This was the first time that our Company took part in this program, with eight employees from various departments becoming mentors for participants with disabilities.
What was the result?
Students from 22 Russian cities took part in the program. Over the course of six weeks, they selected and worked on business cases with their mentors, and upon conclusion of the program, they presented their projects online. For example, one group of participants developed a browser solution, another came up with an application for editing ALT texts, while a third prepared a set of marketing assets for a fictional video game. In doing so, the students and graduates had a chance to try their hand at different professions, apply their skills to solve real technical problems and also gained experience working in a team.
Volunteer programs
More than 200 Kaspersky’s employees actively participate in the corporate volunteering program, which includes several initiatives: blood donation, charity sporting events, patronage of an orphanage and pro bono work.
Sports volunteering
In 2022–2023, the Company’s employees participated in a number of charity sporting events to support its partner‑NPOs Sindrom Lyubvi, Vera and Persperktiva: running and cycling marathons, online triathlons, biathlons and mini‑football competitions. We continue to engage in this format for several reasons. First, sport is very popular among our employees. Over the past five years, our sports enthusiasts have established a full‑fledged community. Second, sporting events help foundations and NPOs promote inclusion and doing good deeds, which is something that is very in line with the Company’s mission. Third, sport activities are an excellent form of team building, uniting colleagues from different departments.
Patronage of the Udomlya Orphanage
Four times a year, our employees visit the Udomlya Orphanage. For each trip a special program of activities for the foster children is carefully planned, including educational lectures, sporting events and a summer camping trip with music and games. Prior to each trip, Kaspersky’s employees help purchase medicine, hygiene products, clothing, shoes and school supplies for the kids.
Volunteering at hospices
Twice a year, our employees volunteer at Moscow hospices and palliative care centers under the patronage of the Vera Foundation. Teams gather to do spring cleaning of the facilities, plant flowers, gather leaves in the garden. For each visit, employees also help resolve housekeeping issues such as buying water, sweets, tea, milk, beauty and household supplies.
Blood donations
Roughly 150 employees from the Company donate blood twice a year to aid the beneficiaries of the Gift of Life Foundation. The event is held at Kaspersky’s Moscow office together with the Russian Federal Medical‑Biological Agency (FMBA) Blood Center. In 2023, we invited employees to become potential bone marrow and stem cell donors. We organized a lecture with a representative of the FMBA, who provided our donors with detailed information about the procedure for HLA (human leukocyte antigen) typing, how to prepare for the testing and what the recommendations are. At the following event in the autumn, 32 employees took part in HLA typing.
Pro bono volunteering
Starting in 2022, we launched a pro bono volunteering program.
Our experts helped to conduct online voting for the annual Charity Against Cancer award for the Gift of Life Foundation, organized two training sessions on the basics of cyber‑hygiene for employees of SOS Children’s Villages from different Russian regions and conducted two more sessions as part of the “I Can” educational project together with the Russian social change platform todogood.
In summer 2022, Kaspersky experts held a career guidance lecture for children with disabilities as part of a summer camp hosted by Perspectiva and served as mentors for people with disabilities as part of the Interregional Career Prospects educational project of the NPO.
In 2023, our design team helped Sindrom Lyubvi foundation update their annual online campaign dedicated to World Down Syndrome Day. The goal was to assess and update the promotional page visually, make it more attractive with new images, color combinations and logic (reduce the number of unnecessary clicks) and simplify the donor’s journey. After analyzing similar promotions, our colleagues proposed a minimalist design with clear and simple visuals that would help emphasize the key message and gain the attention of an older audience. We are happy that we contributed to the improvement of the campaign and helped the foundation receive a record number of donations (more than US$10,000, which is twice as much as in 2022.
Our contribution to boosting employee motivation
In 2023, we added some new unique and useful features to the employee personal account on the corporate intranet. It now has sections where each employee can complete themselves. For example, they can specify their T‑shirt size so that the internal communications and production team knows what kind of T‑shirts are needed and exactly how many when ordering merchandise for the annual corporate event. These precise calculations helped us save more than US$5,000 last year.
In addition, employees are asked to indicate the projects they are involved in, their area of expertise and how they can be useful to other colleagues. All this data is loaded into their personal account in the form of tags, which makes it easier for our colleagues to not only find those responsible for a particular project, but also a friend with similar interests.
One of the most discussed innovations on the Kaspersky intranet in 2023 was the introduction of achievement icons in the employee’s personal profile. The internal communications team calls these virtual awards (badges) that are presented for an employee’s contribution to the Company. Achievements are awarded to employees who have worked for several years at Kaspersky, winners of corporate awards and competitions, athletes, volunteers, public speakers and authors of patented technologies. This tool enables employees to understand what kind of behavior is encouraged at the Company, while the competitiveness and playful style of the awards make them particularly attractive. Kaspersky’s employees have a very busy life outside of work, so there are numerous reasons to reward achievements for various activities: musicians, artists, special achievements for memes and more.