Kaspersky fourth worldwide publisher of software security, today announced the imminent launch of a Mac version of its antivirus general public. Available next week boxed, it is for Apple computers with Intel processors running Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger) and above. A choice that might seem surprising, since the software environment from Apple is considered less susceptible to threats than Windows but, according to Kaspersky, is justified by two factors: the increasing interest of hackers and Mac OS heterogeneous computing parks, private or professional.
"Apple has done good work for a company that is not specialized in security, but the growing popularity of the Mac out of the darkness and now attracts criminals," said the Russian Vartan Minasyan, head of product that new online anti-virus, passing through Paris.
A new Trojan week
On average, the publisher states discover a new Trojan horse for Mac OS weekly. The pace is nothing comparable to the Windows environment, which is affected by a new threat every three seconds, but according to him should still alert the user. Especially if they are not directly affected by viruses and trojans from the Windows world, Mac owners are likely to serve as a relay to spread these threats. It would be better therefore to detect, before they can be transferred to others.
Adopting an interface intended to stick to the canons of Mac OS X, "Kaspersky Anti-Virus for Mac" associated himself with the scan engine developed for the Windows version of the product. The latter seek to detect threats specifically Mac and Windows viruses or Linux even if they do not directly threaten the machine running the software.
Besides protecting "permanent," we find different levels of scanning (fast or wide) that can be planned. Like Windows, the detection of a threat will cause the display of a warning, so that the user if he wants to destroy the affected file or quarantine. Able to search within the bootcamp partition if they are visible from Mac OS X, Mac Kaspersky does not offer extended features such as "security suite" that offer most Windows editors.
The Directive would come directly from Apple, who did not want, according to representatives of Kaspersky, the introduction of software too "complex". By respecting this choice, the Russian publisher opens the way for future products complementing its own antivirus. Kaspersky Anti-Virus for Mac can now be purchased online and will be launched boxed around 22 October. Allow $ 39.95 for a license valid for one year on a post.
System requirements
Kaspersky Anti-Virus for Mac was especially designed to meet the needs of this operating system, offering complete compatibility with all versions of the OS from 10.4.11 onwards. Other technical requirements include: a Mac with the Intel processor, 512 MB available RAM and 80 MB available hard drive space.
