How to run alliances and cooperate with nonprofit organizations

## Overview Christina Shingareva, Head of External Relations at Kaspersky, discusses how businesses can build effective alliances and cooperate with nonprofit organizations to tackle cybersecurity threats at scale. She explains that while cybersecurity threats have become mainstream public knowledge, the amplified visibility stems from organizations uniting to research and solve issues collaboratively.

## Key Topics

### No More Ransom Project Launched in 2016 by Europol, the Netherlands Police, Kaspersky, and McAfee, this initiative helps ransomware victims recover encrypted data for free without paying criminals. Kaspersky experts locate decryption keys for various ransomware families and share them. The project now has over 160 global partners and represents a collaborative approach to a problem without a universal single-day solution.

### Coalition Against Stalkerware Created at the end of 2019, this coalition addresses "surveillance phone" applications sold legally as parental controls but used for tracking and abuse. Currently includes over 40 partner organizations—cybersecurity companies, academia, domestic violence service organizations, law enforcement, and Interpol as a supporter. The coalition recognized stalkerware as both a technical and social issue requiring diverse expertise.

### Tinycheck Tool An open-source, free scanning tool developed by Kaspersky in response to a French NGO's request. It runs on Raspberry Pi or Linux devices to detect stalkerware by scanning outgoing traffic without alerting the abuser—critical since stalkerware can notify abusers of detection attempts, potentially escalating domestic violence. The tool is designed for use only by NGOs with trained representatives alongside victims to develop safety and escape plans.

## Technical Details Stalkerware detection presents a regulatory challenge: Kaspersky can detect stalkerware but cannot flag it as malicious or block it due to its legal status. The response was deploying privacy alerts in products that explicitly explain surveillance capabilities (location tracking, text/call interception, activity monitoring) to users.

## Takeaways - Successful coalitions address real external needs rather than artificial problems - Partnerships work best when partners possess fundamentally different expertise - Social issue projects require significant time and resources; the No More Ransom project continues after five years; Coalition Against Stalkerware remains in early stages after two years - Direct business profit is unlikely; internal organizational buy-in requires substantial PR and reputation investment to justify initiatives without immediate financial returns