Kris Kaspersky

Early Life

Born Nikolay Likhachev on November 2, 1976, in the village of Uspenskoye, Krasnodar Krai, Russia, Kris Kaspersky experienced a brain stroke as an infant caused by a mistaken injection of calcium chloride by a doctor. The resulting partial brain tissue damage led to minor autism. He showed an early aptitude for electronics, building his first working radio at age seven.

His introduction to computing came through a Pravetz 8D — a Bulgarian clone of the British Oric Atmos — which he operated with documentation written in Bulgarian, connected to a tape recorder and color television. On this machine he developed his first computer game, a simple text-based fishing program. Subsequent machines included the Electronika BK-0010, on which he learned assembly language, followed by a ZX Spectrum and an Agat computer.

Kaspersky graduated from high school with a silver medal. He enrolled at Taganrog University of Radio Engineering in the specialization of microcontroller design, but left before completing his first semester, citing limited programming opportunities. He re-enrolled the following year but again withdrew. During this period he and a fellow student ran a system administration service in Taganrog, though the venture collapsed when his partner absconded with the funds, forcing Kaspersky to surrender his remaining money and computer to racketeers.

Career

After a series of failed business attempts in southern Russia, Kaspersky eventually made his way to Moscow. There he had a notable encounter with Eugene Kaspersky in the stairwell of the antivirus lab, which did not lead to lasting collaboration. He adopted the pseudonym "Kris Kaspersky," deliberately dropping the "y" from the spelling to avoid confusion with the more prominent Eugene Kaspersky.

His first published article appeared in the magazine Astrologer while he was still in school, covering astronomy. In 1998 he began actively contributing to the FidoNet RU.HACKER conference. His posts attracted the attention of Dmitry Sadchenko, who arranged a meeting with the publishing house Solon-Press. In 1999, Solon-Press published his first book, Technique and Philosophy of Hacker Attacks, for which he received an author's fee of 50,000 rubles.

By 2008, Kaspersky had published a total of 16 books, several of which were translated into English. His titles covered reverse engineering, disassembly, shellcoding, virus research, code optimization, data recovery, and CD copy protection, among other subjects. He also authored Weatherlore Encyclopedia, reflecting a parallel interest in astronomy and meteorology.

Alongside his books, Kaspersky contributed regularly to Russian technology publications including Hacker, BYTE Russia, System Administrator, Computerra, and others. The editor of Hacker magazine noted that the editorial staff communicated with him exclusively by mail and telephone and had never met him in person, describing him as intensely dedicated and capable of producing lengthy technical articles on short notice.

Notable Work

In late October 2008, Kaspersky presented research on previously undisclosed vulnerabilities in Intel processors at the Hack in the Box conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The flaws he described were characterized as suitable for the remote compromise of multiple servers.

From June 2008, he worked remotely for Endeavor Security, a firm focused on computer and network security. In 2009, McAfee acquired Endeavor Security. Kaspersky subsequently relocated to the United States, where he also worked for Check Point as a security expert.

Death

On February 10, 2017, Kaspersky was critically injured during a skydiving hard landing at Skydive DeLand in Florida. He sustained a compound fracture to his left leg and a head injury, and was admitted to Halifax Health Medical Center in intensive care. He had completed approximately 200 jumps prior to the accident. He was removed from life support and died from his injuries on February 18, 2017, at the age of 40.

Legacy

Kaspersky was regarded by colleagues as possessing an unusually deep understanding of low-level computing systems. Endeavor Security's CEO described him as someone who understood the fundamental mechanics of security, while a colleague noted that his reputation outside Russia was well-founded, characterizing him as a hacker in the original sense — someone who grasps how systems work at their core. His published bibliography remains a reference point in Russian-language technical literature on reverse engineering and systems security.