Anti-virus firm Kaspersky Lab has boldly predicted that it will become the market leader in endpoint security, building on a growing reputation for technological innovation, and heavy investment in research and development.

Chief executive Eugene Kaspersky argued at the firm's New Dimensions press event in Moscow today that the firm realised sooner than its rivals that the winners in the industry would be those that focus heavily on the technology.

"We understood it was a technological arms race years back," he said. "It's one of the reasons we have grown so much and that we're not talking about the financial crisis because we don't recognise it."

Eugene Buyakin, chief operating officer at Kaspersky, predicted that the firm would "sooner or later" become the leading player in its industry, adding that it will specifically focus on the corporate market in the next three to five years.

The firm is aiming for 35 per cent year-on-year growth in sales bookings and 60 per cent growth in revenue for 2009, having already predicted 100 per cent revenue growth for this year to $270m (£184m).

Kaspersky does not currently rank in the top five endpoint security vendors, but predicts that it will to break into fourth place behind Trend Micro, with about four per cent of the market, by the end of the year.

Buyakin also did not rule out an initial public offering for the firm when the current financial crisis has abated.

"Being public could help with [the corporate side of the business] but we don't see any immediate need," he said. "We are profitable and have the financial resources to develop the business, but we'll look very carefully at what's going on. If the market is good we can do it."

Ritchie Jeune, chief executive at security consultancy Evolution Security Systems, argued that Kaspersky's ability to overtake its rivals would depend on its success at moving away from traditional anti-virus products.

"The likes of McAfee and Symantec have moved away from the anti-virus label, " he said. "If Kaspersky is to be the number one it needs to be a lot more than a good anti-virus engine and OEM partner."

Also at the event, Nikolay Grebennikov, vice president of research and development at Kaspersky, explained that the firm is trying to differentiate in the space by incorporating white listing, vulnerability scanning, user feedback and in-the-cloud technologies to determine the security profile of unknown applications.