IT security firm Kaspersky Lab has joined forces with Juniper Networks to integrate malicious software protection into Juniper's SRX Series Services Gateways and J Series Services Routers.

The announcement extends the inclusion of Kaspersky's anti-virus engine within Juniper's Junos network operating system, and forms part of its Unified Threat Management system.

"The continued dramatic increase in malicious code propagation demands that enterprises provide the highest level of protection to secure all endpoints," said Petr Merkulov, vice pesident of the technology alliances division at Kaspersky.

"The integration of Kaspersky Lab's award-winning anti-virus technologies into the Juniper SRX Series Services Gateways and J Series Services Routers will create an even deeper level of protection for enterprise customers."

Kaspersky's system aims to combat viruses, Trojans, worms and rootkits, and is available in two versions: a fully fledged anti-virus system; and an ExpressAV application aimed specifically at high-speed, low-latency networking devices.

"With Juniper's new ExpressAV for low latency real-time web-based transactions, customers now receive an even richer and more comprehensive threat management solution," said Sanjay Kalra, senior director of the branch solutions business unit at Juniper.