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Kaspersky Security for Virtualization Offers Network Efficiency and Protection from Malware, Managed with Ease from a Single Console

Woburn, MA –Feb. 13, 2012 Building on the momentum created by the launch of Kaspersky Endpoint Security 8 in October 2011, Kaspersky Lab today announced its latest security technology to ensure businesses will “Be Ready for What’s Next.” Kaspersky Security for Virtualization – built from the ground-up by Kaspersky Lab’s internal team of security experts – is focused on protecting evolving corporate IT infrastructures from malware and cybercriminals.  Virtualization creates tremendous business and IT benefits for organizations globally, but if left unprotected, these platforms may become a weak link in the security chain for cybercriminals to exploit.

Kaspersky Security for Virtualization is delivered as a virtual security appliance that integrates with VMware vShield™ Endpoint to provide agent-less, anti-malware security based upon Kaspersky Lab’s advanced anti-malware engine.  Developed from the same code-base as Kaspersky Lab’s award-winning line of endpoint security products, Kaspersky Security for Virtualization avoids the needless complexity and resource-drain associated with security programs that typically “bolt-on” acquired technology for virtual environments leaving customers with a management nightmare.  With Kaspersky Lab, customers have a single, unified management platform for their virtual, physical and mobile environments.

In addition to plug-and-play compatibility with Kaspersky Lab’s own endpoint security offerings, Kaspersky Security for Virtualization seamlessly integrates with VMware vShieldEndpoint Security, providing straightforward protection for virtual data centers, virtualized servers and desktops.  Using VMware vShield™ Endpoint, the centrally managed Kaspersky Security for Virtualization automatically detects every virtual machine on the network, delivering files to the Kaspersky Lab client for real-time anti-malware scans.  This integration with VMware vCenter means straightforward deployment, automatic protection of new virtual machines, mapping of both logical and physical computing structures, and automatic security updates, all managed by “a single pane of glass,” the Kaspersky Security Center administration console, and delivering increased consolidation ratios for customers.

The Kaspersky Lab Benefit - Unified Management of Virtual, Physical and Mobile Security
One of the greatest advantages of virtualization – IT resource efficiency – can suffer from sub-par security deployments, which apply physical security rules to virtual machines.  By integrating with VMware vShield™ Endpoint, Kaspersky Security for Virtualization operates its anti-malware functions on a centralized virtual appliance, eliminating the need for duplicated resources on each virtual machine. By freeing up virtual machine resources, Kaspersky Security for Virtualization can optimize performance, reduce hardware costs and energy consumption, and provide detailed logging of security tasks to satisfy compliance auditing requirements.

Additionally, businesses have a mix of virtual, mobile and physical endpoints, but IT administrators don’t want to manage multiple security programs from multiple consoles.  Kaspersky Security for Virtualization doesn’t force customers to create silos responsible for securing each platform. Instead, it feeds data directly to the Kaspersky Security Center.  Kaspersky Lab’s agent-based security applications are also “virtualization-aware,” letting customers decide for themselves what method for securing each virtual machine best meets their security needs.  IT administrators can also provide customized security policies to selected virtual machine groups, just as easily as with physical machines.  This unified management of all computing environments provides an unmatched mix of straightforward administration combined with next-generation protection.

When this streamlined virtualization manager is combined with Kaspersky Lab’s award-winning anti-malware engine, the difference is immediately apparent.  Our industry-leading anti-malware engine provides superior detection rates and heuristic analysis to detect and block even the most sophisticated polymorphic malware.  Moreover, by having Kaspersky Security for Virtualization deployed on a virtualized host appliance, virtual machines are all protected by the same centralized malware database which is constantly updated as new threats emerge.  This model ensures all virtual machines receive the same level of protection, regardless of when the machines were created, or if they have been offline for extended periods of time. There are no “Instant-On” gaps for virtual machines that haven’t been used for extended periods of time and no “AV Storms” that hog network resources while updating virtual machines.

QUOTES:
Petr Merkulov, Chief Product Officer,
Kaspersky Lab

Our integration with VMware gives customers the ability to deploy Kaspersky Lab’s industry-leading security technology through their trusted VMware infrastructure.  This is only the beginning of our partnership, as we plan to develop more functionality with the VMware API, along with the ability to isolate any infected virtual machines before malware can spread across the network.  Our valuable channel partners are thrilled to have an optimized virtualization solution added to their portfolio of Kaspersky Lab products.  This is only the beginning for Kaspersky Lab’s virtual security offerings as we expand our functionality across all popular virtualization platforms.”

Parag Patel, Vice President, Global Strategic Alliances,
VMware

Kaspersky Lab and VMware continue to innovate to further our mutual efforts of delivering customers leading security offerings. Working together on VMware vShield Endpoint, Kaspersky Lab is able to provide broad security to virtualized environments and enable regulatory compliance, giving customers confidence as they continue to adopt cloud computing solutions.”

Christian Christensen, Program Vice President, Security Products and Services Group
IDC

Many small to midsized enterprises, with between 500 and 5,000 seats, have different mixes of virtualization within their infrastructure.  Lots of these businesses are using security practices best-suited for physical environments, such as agent-based anti-virus scanners, and may not be reaping the full benefits of their virtualization investment.  With Kaspersky Virtualization Security, Kaspersky Lab now offers agent-based and agent-less security solutions that are managed under the same console, which will give businesses more flexibility in designing a network that fits their needs, without excessive complexity or inefficient protection.”

System Requirements and Availability:
Kaspersky Security for Virtualization, combined with VMware vShield Endpoint, is compatible with vSphere 5.0; VMware hypervisor ESX/ESX 4.1 and 5.0; vCenter Server 5.0; vShield App 1.0; vShield Edge 1.0 and VMware View 4.5.  Kaspersky Security for Virtualization provides agent-less protection for virtual machines running on most Windows operation systems, including Widows 7; Windows Vista; Windows XP; Windows Server 2008; Windows Server 2008 R2; and Windows Server 2003.

Kaspersky Security for Virtualization will be demoed at the VMware Partner Exchange Conference in Las Vegas and the RSA Conference in San Francisco.  The product will be available to the public on April 16, 2012.

About Kaspersky Lab
Kaspersky Lab is the world's largest privately-held Internet Security company, providing comprehensive protection against all forms of IT threats such as viruses, spyware, hackers and spam. The company's products provide in-depth computer defense for more than 400 million systems around the globe, including home and mobile users, small and medium sized businesses and large enterprises. Kaspersky technology is also incorporated inside the products and services of nearly 100 of industry leading IT, networking, communications and applications solution vendors.

For further information about the company, please visit http://www.kaspersky.com/.  For the latest in-depth information on security threat issues and trends, please visit http://www.securelist.com/. Follow @Securelist on Twitter.  For the most up-to-date world security news, visit http://www.threatpost.com/.

About VMware
VMware, VMware vCenter and VMware vShield are registered trademarks and/or trademarks of VMware, Inc. in the United States and/or other jurisdictions. All other marks and names mentioned herein may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies. The use of the word “partner” or “partnership” does not imply a legal partnership relationship between VMware and any other company.

Media/Analyst Contact Information:
Greg Sabey
Kaspersky Lab
781-503-2654
greg.sabey@kaspersky.com

Kaspersky Lab Announces Company’s First Virtualization Security Solution, Featuring Seamless Integration with VMware vShield™ Endpoint

Kaspersky Lab Announces Company’s First Virtualization Security Solution, Featuring Seamless Integration with VMware vShield™ Endpoint
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