Kaspersky’s Next-Gen Net Security

By Colleen Bohen -- TWICE, 8/4/2008

Woburn, Mass. — Kaspersky Lab has released its latest Internet security and anti-virus software packages in North America today.

This latest generation of security software features a rebuilt security engine, and both packages feature faster scanning speeds than past generations.

The new Internet security program combines traditional application-blacklisting technology along with a “whitelisting” technique that allows the system to recognize harmless applications that have been pre-approved and entered into a database of more than 400 million “good” applications. According to Kaspersky, this process of eliminating software code that is known to be bad and determining which is good allows the program to focus the majority of its resources on monitoring unknown entities. The process is also said to free processor and memory resources and eliminate the user’s need to respond to pop-ups.

In addition to its filtering technology, the new Internet Security solution offers a new anti-phishing virtual keyboard to protect users from keyloggers who may attempt to intercept keystrokes when users insert passwords or other confidential data. It also features enhanced parental controls that allows for time-locked Internet access, and the ability to limit which sites a child can visit and to log the child’s visits.

Both new products feature updated anti-malware engines, a new vulnerability assessment tool that scans the computer for vulnerabilities and directs users to detailed information on how to fix any problems it encounters, and a new collective intelligence gathering features that allows users that opt-ion to automatically send previously unseen information to the Kaspersky Lab for evaluation and potential inclusion in Kaspersky’s databases. Both programs also features a default setting that will check for updates automatically on the hour or on a user-specified schedule.

All Kaspersky products come complete with free technical support via phone, email and live chat. The U.S.-based phone support is available from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. ET, Monday through Friday.

Both programs are available online today and will be available at retail in the United States and Canada later this month. Kaspersky Internet Security 2009 is available for $79.95 and it allows three users for one year. Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2009 carries a suggested retail price of $59.95 and offers a license for use by one user for one year. Existing customers with version 6.0 or later can update to the 2009 versions of their software free of charge.