Kaspersky Lab adds virtual machine protection

Kaspersky Lab is to support VMware's vShield Endpoint later this year, bringing malware protection to virtual machines in the datacentre while having as little impact on performance as possible.

VShield Endpoint offloads anti-virus and anti-malware processing from individual virtual machines to a dedicated security appliance, supplied by partners such as Kaspersky in the form of a virtual machine.

Eliminating the need for security client software on every virtual machine improves performance by removing anti-virus and anti-malware bottlenecks, according to VMware.

"Kaspersky Lab is truly excited to support VMware vShield for our mutual customers. Our support enables clients to securely maintain state-of-the-art, multi-layered anti-malware strategies across virtual environments and heterogeneous IT infrastructures," said Kaspersky Lab chief technology officer Nikolay Grebennikov.

The company expects to deliver support in the fourth quarter of 2011, but declined to comment on whether the virtual appliance is based on new technology or an existing Kaspersky product.