Kaspersky Lab announces the initiation of a pilot project aimed at providing antivirus protection for smartphones, Kaspersky Mobile. This new service, which is already being offered to OEM partners, uses the very latest technologies from Kaspersky Lab and precedes the release of Kaspersky Anti-Virus Mobile, a universal antivirus solution that protects smartphones using the two most popular platforms, Symbian and Windows.

Kaspersky Mobile is a collaborative project between Kaspersky Lab and its partner, Svyaznoy-Zagruzka, a Russian provider of mobile content services. It combines on-demand scanning of the file system with real-time monitoring of all incoming files and messages in the background to provide comprehensive protection for mobile users. The user can set schedules for complete or partial antivirus scans at predefined intervals. Kaspersky Mobile also includes downloads of the install package for the antivirus program and subscription to regular updates to the mobile antivirus databases.

Svyaznoy-Zagruzka provides the tools for downloading and installing the software, while Kaspersky Lab provides antivirus database updates with up-to-the-minute information on viruses. Kaspersky Lab's research in this area has already greatly profited from close collaboration with its partners that include the world's leading developers of smartphone operating systems, Symbian and Microsoft.

Since the technology behind Kaspersky Mobile was originally designed to be used by Kaspersky Lab's technology partners and in OEM projects, the solution can be effectively used on networks of any type and size. It can be easily integrated into other products, and thus presents an excellent opportunity for collaboration with mobile network operators and vendors of software and hardware for mobile devices.

According to Vitaly Bezrodnykh, Kaspersky Lab Business Development Director, "The issue of antivirus protection and information security in general is of increasing concern for the mobile communications industry. We can offer a number of simple and reliable solutions to this problem to any interested service provider." The first smartphone antivirus protection service to be made available initially in the Russian market is a crucial step in accomplishing the company's mission of providing users with better protection against known and emerging cyber threats.