Kaspersky Anti-Virus Wiki

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Category Security & Privacy Anti-Virus Tools

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Kaspersky Anti-Virus

Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2009 (version 8.0)
Developed by	Kaspersky Lab
Latest release	8.0.0.506 (2009) / 2008-11-19; 399 days ago
Operating system	Microsoft Windows, Linux
Type	Antivirus
License	Proprietary
Website	www.kaspersky.com

Kaspersky Anti-Virus (Russian: Антивирус Касперского; formerly known as AntiViral Toolkit Pro; often referred to as KAV) is an antivirus program developed by Kaspersky Lab. It is designed to protect users from malware and is primarily designed for computers running Microsoft Windows, though a version for Linux is available for business consumers.

1 Features
2 Limitations
3 Linux editions
4 System requirements
5 Security flaws
6 See also
7 References

[edit] Features

Kaspersky Anti-Virus features include real-time protection, detection and removal of viruses, trojans, worms, spyware, adware and keyloggers, as well as detection and removal of rootkits. It also includes automatic updates and a tool for creating rescue disks. In addition, KAV prevents itself from being disabled without user permission. According to AV-Comparatives, Kaspersky Anti-Virus rates highly amongst virus scanners in terms of detection rates, even despite the fact that the program has failed two Virus Bulletin tests in 2007. In addition, PC World awarded Kaspersky Anti-Virus 6 the Editor's Choice in its 2007 anti-virus comparative^[1]. Kaspersky Anti-Virus 7.0 was "A-listed" by the prestigious UK PC journal PC Pro in late 2007, where it scored very highly for detection and removal of malware^[2]. PC Pro attribute this to “a combination of the software’s heuristic scanning and uncompromising approach to database updates^[3]. While many packages check for new virus signatures on a daily basis, Kaspersky runs to an hourly schedule, improving your PC’s chances of being immunized before an infection reaches it.” ^[4]

[edit] Limitations

Kaspersky Anti-Virus lacks certain features found in Kaspersky Internet Security. These missing features include a personal firewall, HIPS, a parental control tool, and an anti-spam application. It also lacks the Virtual Keyboard, a feature used to prevent keystroke logging. In addition, Kaspersky Anti-Virus, like the majority of its competitors, is incompatible with numerous other antivirus and antispyware software.^[5]. This limitation is severe on operating systems without built in firewalls such as Windows 2000 since the Kaspersky installation routine can automatically uninstall incompatible applications, leaving the system exposed.

[edit] Linux editions

An edition of Kaspersky's anti-virus solution for Linux workstations is available to business consumers.^[6] It offers many of the features included in the mainstream version for Windows, including on-access and on-demand scanners. Specialized editions of Kaspersky Anti-Virus are also available for a variety of Linux servers and offer protection from most forms of malware.

[edit] System requirements

	Windows 2000 (SP4 or higher) / XP (SP2 or higher) / XP Professional x64 Edition	Windows Vista (32/64-bit)	Linux (Red Hat, Mandriva, Fedora, Debian, SUSE)
Processor	Intel Pentium 300 MHz or higher (or equivalent)	Intel Pentium 800 MHz or higher (or equivalent)	Intel Pentium 133 MHz or higher (or equivalent)
RAM	128 MB	512 MB	64 MB
Free hard drive space	50 MB	50 MB	100 MB

A DVD-ROM or CD-ROM drive, Internet Explorer 5.5 or above and Windows Installer 2.0 or above are also required for the installation of Kaspersky Anti-Virus in Windows. The current mainstream version range of Kaspersky Anti-Virus (7.0.0.125 and higher) only supports Windows 2000, XP and Vista. The last version of Kaspersky Anti-Virus that still supported Windows Me was 6.0.2.621.

[edit] Security flaws

In 2005, a critical flaw was discovered that could let an attacker commandeer systems that use Kaspersky Anti-Virus.^[7]
In 2005, it was discovered that Kaspersky Anti-Virus had a "critical flaw" that allowed CHM files to insert malicious code.^[8]