Kaspersky debuts Linux antivirus in the U.S.
Products to protect corporate servers running open-source operating systems make their way over from Europe.
Moscow-based Kaspersky announced Monday that it has launched the corporate products in the United States. It has sold them in Europe for the past six years.
"Linux products are much more prevalent in Europe. But as Linux comes more and more online in the United States, there is a greater need for protection against malicious code," said Randy Drawas, a Kaspersky Lab spokesman.
Developers of the Linux kernel also see the need for greater security and earlier this year formed a security mailing list to keep each other apprised of flaws.
Kaspersky Anti-Virus version 5.5 is designed to protect e-mail servers, file servers and workstations running on Linux, Free BSD and Open BSD operating systems, the security company said. The upgraded version features real-time scanning technology called Kavmonitor that aims to identify and quarantine suspicious objects.
Version 5.5 includes improvements to its installation and removal procedures, Kaspersky said. A built-in Web interface enables IT administrators to maintain statistics on malicious software getting into their networks.
The software, which has begun shipping in the United States, sells for $26 per single workstation; $190 per file server; and $19.34 per mailbox license for orders between 10 to 25 mailboxes.