General22.03.2013

Kaspersky Lab technologies reviewed by 451 Research

Independent analysts discuss Kaspersky Lab’s strengths and opportunities in corporate security market

Kaspersky Lab has announced that 451 Research, which analyses the business of IT innovation, has issued a report on Kaspersky Lab’s protection technologies and products. 451 Research analysts noted Kaspersky Lab’s commitment to developing all its technologies in-house and its single interface management system.

New solutions – often highly specialised – are continually appearing on the corporate IT security market. In addition to standard anti-malware software, modern corporate security solutions include data encryption, protection against data leakage, application control, centralised administration of the corporate network and other similar technologies. This surge of new technologies demands integration in a single product. Most large security vendors expand their technology portfolios by acquiring smaller companies. However, the integration of the new technology into existing solutions is often piecemeal at best, far from a user-friendly product with centralised access to the whole corporate network. Unlike most of its competitors, Kaspersky Lab invests in its own development rather than buying third-party technologies. This enables Kaspersky Lab solutions to be highly integrated.

“Eugene Kaspersky and his team have taken their same methodology of internal development, single agent offering and whitelist protection to build one product to rule them all (endpoints, including smartphones and tablets). The company may well find its niche,” says Chris Morales, Senior Analyst Enterprise Security at 451 Research.

Strong Dynamic Whitelisting and Automatic Exploit Prevention:

Another strong point of Kaspersky Lab’s business solutions portfolio is the high-quality implementation of critically important corporate security technologies such as Dynamic Whitelisting and Automatic Exploit Prevention. 

451 Research observed that the fundamental approach to security is changing. They point out that the traditional protection offered by a database of malicious signatures is no longer enough, simply because the amount of malware is increasing exponentially – the number of malicious programmes in existence long ago surpassed the amount of safe programmes. As a result, it is easier and more effective to create a database of trusted applications – the method implemented by Kaspersky Lab.

Kaspersky Lab solutions determine the security level of applications by combining a list of trusted applications with additional security technologies that analyse the application code and its behaviour. This dynamic approach ensures there is less dependence on the reliability of the trusted applications database, which could be compromised and lead to malicious applications evading detection, and thus offers a higher level of protection.

451 Research analysts also made particular mention of Kaspersky Lab’s Automatic Exploit Prevention technology which combats malicious applications that exploit unpatched and possibly even undiscovered software vulnerabilities to infect computers.

More than just a security suite:

Kaspersky Lab’s corporate products are not just about security – they include functionality to manage a company’s IT infrastructure and offer additional protection for confidential data.

“Beyond its standard malware detection and security aspects, Kaspersky is looking to round out its endpoint offering even further by including system management, mobile device management (MDM) and encryption features,” Morales continues. “Initial system management tools available today include hardware inventory, network access control, software management, patch management, license management and remote control. Encryption features include file-level and full-disk encryption. Future plans are to introduce content-aware data-loss prevention features.”

In addition, 451 Research analysts note Kaspersky Lab’s solutions to protect virtual servers, and the in-house system of mobile device control and management within the corporate network (Kaspersky Mobile Device Management).

”While the mobile management space is crowded, Kaspersky sets itself apart from other players with its focus on SMBs and its ability to provide a single console to manage and secure mobile, virtual and desktop,” said Chris Hazelton, Research Director of Mobile & Wireless at 451 Research. “As Kaspersky bumps up against other security providers targeting enterprise mobility, it takes pride in the fact that it has developed its mobile tools in-house, instead of via M&A. In this way, its mobile management tools are built from the ground up to run alongside its other security offerings.”

In-house developments, seamless integration of a variety of technologies within one product and the ability to manage all components of the protection solution from a single interface are all elements which make Kaspersky Lab one of the strongest players on the enterprise security market. At the same time, the company is competitive both in terms of its technologies and price level.

Vladimir Zapolyansky, Head of Technology Positioning, Kaspersky Lab, commented: “It is a great honour  to receive such a positive appraisal of our technologies and business strategy. It is recognition of our work in trying to create highly effective and, at the same time, user-friendly products to protect our clients’ IT infrastructure.”

The 451 Research report is by no means the first time the benefits of Kaspersky Lab corporate products have been recognised by industry experts. At the end of 2012, for example, the renowned independent AV-Test laboratory rated Kaspersky Endpoint Security for Windows the leader in its Best Protection and Best Repair categories.

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