Kaspersky launches virtual malware protection

Anti-virus specialist Kaspersky has expanded its endpoint security product portfolio to offer VMware users malware protection.

The Kaspersky Security for Virtualisation (KSV) product integrates with the virtualisation giant's vShield Endpoint Security to provide malware protection to every virtual machine on a company's network.

Speaking to IT Pro, Peter Beardmore, senior director of products and services at Kaspersky, said KSV's centralised management console is designed to make life easier for system administrators.

Virtualisation is really starting to come of age in the SMB market.

"Most competing products require some kind of separate management system for each solution," he explained.

"With our central management approach, system administrators can rollout updates from a single console across different virtual, physical and mobile environments."

He said the product launch would also bolster Kaspersky's efforts to gain some ground in the enterprise market.

"VMware's market penetration in the enterprise market is one of the reasons we decided to work with them on this," said Beardmore.

"We want to expand into the enterprise, but virtualisation is also really starting to come of age in the SMB market, so it is a good time for us to be expanding our product portfolio."

He also confirmed to IT Pro that Kaspersky is developing similar products for use in Microsoft and Citrix-based virtual environments.

"It is something we intend to do, but we are not in a position at the moment to publicly discuss a timeline or release date," he added.