Kaspersky Internet Security
Description
Consumer antivirus software spent years competing on detection rates but ignored the real attack surface that home users were exposed to: phishing links in email, malicious downloads from compromised websites, unsecured Wi-Fi connections, and payment page fraud. Kaspersky Internet Security was designed to combat that larger threat picture instead of stopping at file scanning. It includes malware detection, web protection, a firewall, a password manager, parental controls, webcam protection and a VPN component all in one subscription.
Kaspersky Lab was a company founded in Moscow in 1997 by Eugene Kaspersky and Natalya Kaspersky, which built its reputation on malware research before consumer products became the company’s main source of revenue. The Internet Security product line lies between Kaspersky Anti-Virus — the basic file protection tier — and Kaspersky Total Security, which includes the addition of backup and file encryption. Internet Security covers the features that most home users need without the additional tools aimed at advanced users.
DEVELOPMENT HISTORY
Kaspersky Lab made its name in the security research community during the 1990s and early 2000s, contributing malware analysis to the field at a time when it required manual reverse engineering of each new threat. The company’s threat intelligence work was well-known among security professionals before consumer products made the Kaspersky name recognizable to general audiences.
The Internet Security product line matured through annual releases tied to calendar years — Kaspersky Internet Security 2014, 2015, and so on — each adding features in response to the current threat landscape. The Safe Money feature, which opens banking and shopping Web sites in a hardened browser environment, came along as card skimming and session hijacking attacks against financial transactions became more common. Safe Kids parental controls grew as the use of mobile devices by children increased. Privacy Protection tools such as webcam blocking and microphone access monitoring were added in response to the rise in spyware against home users.
Starting in 2019, Kaspersky began marketing products under regional brand names such as Kaspersky Internet Security, Norton by Symantec competitor positioning and expanded through retail channels. In 2022, a number of governments expressed concerns about the Russian origin of Kaspersky software amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The United States Federal Communications Commission included Kaspersky in its Covered List in 2022. Kaspersky Lab reacted by relocating some infrastructure and announced plans to move headquarters. In September 2024, Kaspersky discontinued sales in the US as a result of a US Commerce Department ban on new sales in the US, but the software itself was still available to existing users internationally.
Malware Protection
Kaspersky’s detection engine is a combination of signature-based scanning, behavior monitoring and heuristic analysis. Real-time file system monitoring scans files on access and the background scan checks the entire system on a schedule. The threat database is automatically updated several times per day. Kaspersky regularly tests in the highest levels of independent testing by AV-TEST and AV-Comparatives in detection rate, false positive rate and performance impact categories.
Safe Browsing and Anti-Phishing
The web protection part verifies URLs against Kaspersky’s threat database before loading pages. Anti-phishing detection is used to recognize fake banking and login pages that have been created to steal credentials. Browser extensions for Chrome, Firefox and Edge integrate the checking of the URL and provide visual cues on search results marking known malicious links.
Safe Money
Safe Money opens banking websites, payment processors, and online shopping checkout pages in a separate hardened browser environment that is isolated from the main operating system session. This prevents keyloggers, screen capture malware and session hijacking tools from intercepting financial data that is entered during transactions.
Firewall
The application firewall tracks inbound and outbound network connections and blocks unauthorized applications from communicating and raises alarms about suspicious connection attempts. Rules can be set on a per application basis, or set to use automatic trust levels based on application reputation information from Kaspersky’s network.
Privacy Protection
Webcam protection prevents unauthorized applications from accessing the camera and provides an alert when any application tries to turn on the camera. Microphone protection is used to monitor the access of audio inputs for applications. The privacy cleaner erases browser history, cookies, and temporary files on demand or on a time schedule.
Parental Controls
Safe Kids allows for filtering of web content by category, setting daily screen time limits, and monitoring social network activity. Location tracking for iOS and Android devices connects to the parent dashboard.
