British explorer becomes first woman to cross Antarctica alone
Abingdon, UK, 23 January 2012 – Kaspersky Lab, a leading developer of secure content and threat management solutions, has announced the successful completion of the Kaspersky ONE Transantarctic Expedition, which saw renowned British explorer, Felicity Aston (33), becoming the first woman in history to cross Antarctica alone.
Supported by Kaspersky Lab, Felicity battled the elements alone for 59 days, covering a massive total of 1700km. As well as the physical demands of the expedition Felicity also had to face the mental challenges, including homesickness, the psychological stress of being alone for an extended period and having to check herself for symptoms of hypothermia. Felicity even spent Christmas Day on her own with only Jellybabies to cheer her up.
She started her route on 25 November, journeying alone from the Ross Ice Shelf, up the Leverett Glacier and across the Transantarctic Mountains to the South Pole, where she had her only one-day rest period. She then continued on across the Polar Plateau to the opposite coast of the continent at the Ronne Ice Shelf. Felicity finished her journey yesterday (22 January), having set a new world record.
Upon her arrival at her destination, Felicity said: “I cannot express how happy I am to have finally made it! The Kaspersky ONE Transantarctic Expedition represents a culmination of everything I experienced and learned before on other challenging journeys. I prepared for it physically and mentally for a very long time. And finally here I am, having reached my final destination, having got through some rather severe conditions, but most importantly of all having overcome my own fear. I will never forget this moment, and I’m sure the memory will lead me on to other ventures in the future. I am so grateful to everyone who supported me on my way, to my family and friends, and to the Kaspersky Lab team, who were always there for me.”
Commenting on Felicity’s arrival at her destination, Eugene Kaspersky, Chairman and CEO of Kaspersky Lab, said: “I am so proud that we’ve had the opportunity to contribute to this unique project. This is a feat that will go down in history. We congratulate Felicity on her great victory! I’m sure this will be an important milestone in the long list of her achievements. Fighting against the dangerous environment and keeping moving forward is something that unites us with Felicity, and her achievements inspire our whole team around the world!”
The entire route was followed live on an interactive map on a dedicated website, on Twitter, on Kaspersky Lab’s YouTube channel, and on Facebook. All her followers could support Felicity by sending her some words of encouragement, and at the end of her journey Felicity was presented with a banner of profile pictures of all those who were rooting for her the whole time.
Kaspersky ONE, a multi-platform universal security solution, brings Kaspersky Lab’s leading protection technologies to a large number of personal devices, from desktop PCs, Macs and notebooks, to smartphones and tablets. It’s an example of Kaspersky Lab’s new user-centric approach to personal security, with a single license for all devices that need protection from emerging cyber threats. Kaspersky ONE was released in the UK and USA in October 2011 and will be available worldwide at the end of January 2012.
The partnership between Felicity Aston and Kaspersky Lab started back in 2009, when the company sponsored another project: the Kaspersky Lab Commonwealth Antarctic Expedition, which saw Felicity leading a team of seven women from Commonwealth countries, skiing over 900 km from the coast of Antarctica to the South Pole. These brave women, representing five continents, six faiths and seven languages, marked the 60th anniversary of the Commonwealth. Ever since this successful expedition Felicity has been treated as a member of Kaspersky Lab’s team, being a regular guest at various company events. That’s why Kaspersky Lab was happy to support her new challenging record-setting project and to sponsor the Kaspersky ONE Transantarctic Expedition.
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About Kaspersky Lab
Kaspersky Lab is the largest antivirus company in Europe. It delivers some of the world’s most immediate protection against IT security threats, including viruses, spyware, crimeware, hackers, phishing, and spam. The company is ranked among the world’s top four vendors of security solutions for endpoint users. Kaspersky Lab products provide superior detection rates and one of the industry’s fastest outbreak response times for home users, SMBs, large enterprises and the mobile computing environment. Kaspersky® technology is also used worldwide inside the products and services of the industry’s leading IT security solution providers. Learn more at www.kaspersky.co.uk. For the latest on antivirus, anti-spyware, anti-spam and other IT security issues and trends, visit http://www.securelist.com.
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