Web and IM security-as-a-service

Kaspersky Lab today announced it has partnered with ScanSafe, the pioneer and leading provider of Web Security-as-a-Service, to offer three new Kaspersky Lab services: Kaspersky Hosted Security: webDefend, Kaspersky Hosted Security webControl and Kaspersky Hosted Security: imDefend.

The webDefend service includes scanning of HTTP traffic for malicious and potentially hostile programs and scripts using Kaspersky Anti-Virus and Kaspersky BitHunt, a system that provides early detection of IT threats. In addition, the webControl service blocks unwanted content and allows businesses to manage and enforce Internet access policies, helping improve productivity and bandwidth utilization.

The imDefend service enables organizations to monitor the use of instant messaging systems, such as AOL, Yahoo!, ICQ and Windows Live, by employees. After the network administrator makes minor changes to the network settings, all incoming and outgoing IM messages will be filtered and controlled in real time, increasing the company’s level of information security. The imDefend service also provides protection from malicious programs and spam distributed via instant messenger (SPIM).

As a fully managed services, the suite of hosted security services require no hardware, maintenance or upfront capital costs and deliver real-time scanning of Web and IM traffic. As a result, the services increase productivity, reduce bandwidth consumption and offer a lower total cost of ownership than hardware or software solutions. In addition, by removing the burden of maintenance, the solutions free internal IT resources, allowing them to focus on projects directly related to an organization’s core competency.