Kaspersky has released a new Mac security app, simply called Virus Scanner. The title is being sold on the Mac App Store, and is explicitly designed as a "lightweight" version of the company's existing Mac software. It detects and removes both Mac- and non-Mac malware, using automatically updated definitions.
Symantec in a study Tuesday (below) gave Android and iOS an advantage over computers in security but gave Apple the edge. Both the Apple and Google mobile platforms are more secure than on many computers, especially Windows, since they prevent "drive-by" app installs and often can't get as many privileges. The presences of app signatures on either adds a layer of security that desktop platforms don't always have.
Kasperksy's chief technical officer Nikolay Grebennikov in a discussion Friday argued that Apple had a mandate to open iOS to non-App Store titles. He believed that Apple "simply can't continue" with its contained approach and, to eliminate the drubbing in market share, had to loosen restrictions. In spite of Apple's self-contained system keeping out rogue apps, he told Computing he didn't believe the company could properly contain malware and needed antivirus firms like Kaspersky to take care of the code.
The son of Yvegny Kaspersky, the CEO of a global data security company Kaspersky Lab, has been kidnapped, according to reports. Ivan Kaspersky was said by a daily Russian newspaper to have been taken in Moscow on Thursday afternoon. Little other official information exists about the 20-year-old's fate.
Kaspersky has introduced Anti-Virus for Mac, a port of its long-running Windows and Linux software designed to cope with threats such as worms, Trojans and bots. Some features include e-mail and attachment protection, as well as download scans, and alerts on blocked files and programs. The software recognizes up to 30,000 threats; self-protection functions guard settings with a password, and attempt to prevent techniques from being modified or deleted.
Microsoft late Wednesday said it's nearing the release of its first self-made antivirus software. Although mentioned in the past under its Morro codename, the new software is now known to compete directly with software from Kaspersky, McAfee, Symantec and other relatively low-cost apps. It will only focus on removing spyware, trojans and viruses as the company already has a built-in firewall for Windows.
