Kaspersky Launches New Endpoint Security Platform For Businesses
Kaspersky Lab, the Russian security firm with its US headquarters in Woburn, Mass., on Wednesday unveiled its latest generation of business security solutions.
Built from the ground up from a single code-base, Kaspersky Endpoint Security for Business is company’s new flagship security platform for businesses. Through a single management console, the platform allows IT administrators to see, control and protect all systems and endpoints in the network, including office PCs, virtual machines in a data center, or smartphones held by employees on the go.
Built for both SMBs and Enterprises, the new business security platform is the most significant advancement in B2B security products in Kaspersky Lab’s 15 year history, the company said.
Security was not the only thing in mind when the company was building its latest solution, however. In addition to providing high levels of protection from advanced malware and cybercrime, the company said that it also wanted to combat another common enemy of IT security – complexity.
New capabilities in Kaspersky Endpoint Security for Business include:
• Mobile Security and Device Management – Administrators can secure and protect data, even on employees’ own smartphones and tablets. Mobile endpoint protection can be deployed remotely through centralized Mobile Device Management (MDM).
• Data Encryption – Secure individual files, folders, or full-disks, with Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) 256 bit encryption to ensure information remains secure in the event of accidental device loss or theft. Encryption can also be enforced on peripheral devices, removable drives, files, and folders, and is transparent to users and applications.
• Endpoint Control Tools – Kaspersky Endpoint Security for Business is designed to control application usage through policies and dynamic whitelisting. Administrators can also create custom policies around removable storage devices, USB storage devices and printers, and on-device web policies that ensure users browse the Internet safely whether on the corporate network or at home.
• Systems Management – New systems configuration, deployment and management tools included in Kaspersky Endpoint Security for Business makes time-consuming IT tasks like OS installation, network inventory, system provisioning, remote administration, network admission control (NAC) and license management both faster and less complex. Automated vulnerability scanning and patch management helps ensure users and administrators are up-to-date and notified about critical security exposures.
• Centralized Management through Kaspersky Lab’s Security Center – The administrative console unifies every aspect of Kaspersky Lab’s endpoint, file server and virtual infrastructure protection in a single console.
Kaspersky Endpoint Security for Business is available in the following base configurations, which are modular and expandable:
• Select – includes Workstation & File Server Security, Application Control with Dynamic Whitelisting, Device Control, and Web Control. This offering includes is a mobile protection solution which consists of an endpoint security agent and Mobile Device Management (or MDM).
• Advanced – includes all technologies in Select configuration, with the addition of Encryption and Systems Management tools such as remote deployment, Patch Management and Vulnerability Scanning.
• Kaspersky Total Security for Business – the flagship offering includes additional protection with the inclusion of infrastructure-level protection for Web, Mail, and Collaboration servers.
Some of the offerings can also be purchased separately as “Targeted Solutions”, the company said, allowing businesses to custom-design their protection scheme across their network as required.
Kaspersky Lab is the largest privately held vendor of endpoint protection solutions and was ranked fourth by IDC in Worldwide Endpoint Security Revenue by Vendor in 2011.
While the company may not be well known for its business security solutions, Kaspersky Lab has a larger (albeit behind the scenes) presence in the business protection arena than many think. In fact, more than 80 other technology vendors have embedded Kaspersky’s anti-malware technology inside their own solutions, including Microsoft, IBM, Checkpoint and Juniper.
“Over the years Kaspersky Lab has steadily grown in both market sales and in technical capabilities,” Charles Kolodgy, Research Vice President – Secure Products at IDC said in a statement. “Last year’s overhaul of the company’s Endpoint Security offerings signaled that Kaspersky Lab was ready to compete for deals of all sizes. By offering critical capabilities like data encryption, mobile protection, and full system security management, Kaspersky Lab is poised to be a contender in almost all purchase considerations.”
More information on Kaspersky Endpoint Security for Business is available here.
