1 THANKS, MOM
Kaspersky credits his mother for encouraging his interest in technology. "I liked to solve puzzles and use mathematics the way some kids liked football."

2 UNFLAPPABLE
At 13, he enrolled in a program for gifted children at Moscow University. Using a mainframe, he had to calculate the landing of a space shuttle. "I couldn't do it. I was disappointed, but I wasn't discouraged."

3 COMMON SENSE
"Your mother taught you to look both ways when you cross the road, but most people don't have that sense for computer use."

4 NO WORRIES
Microsoft's OneCare subscription security service will shake up the desktop antivirus market. But Kaspersky isn't phased. "Antivirus is like medicine. We have the best hospital and the fastest ambulance."

5 VISIONARY
Five years ago, Kaspersky told a group of tech pros in the Czech Republic that they needed to think like hackers. But hacking wasn't yet the criminal industry it is today, so many of them didn't buy into his vision. "They didn't understand that there are criminals online who want to take their companies' money."

By Larry Greenemeier,  InformationWeek
March 6, 2006
URL: http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=181500530