Security vendor Dr. Web combines mobile, desktop AV

Russian security company Dr. Web is offering its latest security product for Windows Mobile free to subscribers of its Enterprise Suite 4.4 antivirus and antispam software.

The company recently released Dr. Web antivirus for Windows Mobile 2003 and Windows Mobile versions 5.0, 6.0 and 6.1, said Ralph Kreter, its business manager based in Germany. Dr. Web customers are eligible for the same number of user licenses they are paying for with Enterprise Suite, he said.

The offer is intended to provide a more compelling reason to go with Dr. Web, as some other security companies charge separately for a mobile security product.

Dr. Web also expects to release a beta version of Enterprise Suite 5.0 within a couple weeks, Kreter said. The company has focused on keeping the code base small --- around 11MB -- to speed up the installation time and increase application performance, Kreter said.

Other improvements include a Web-based administrator console, new protection for the Windows registry, real-time HTTP traffic scanning and new controls to prevent access from certain PCs to certain files on shared networks.

Kreter said Dr. Web writes its own APIs (application programming interfaces) to integrate its products with Windows rather than using those supplied by Microsoft, which he said allows the company to better cleanse a machine of viruses.

Dr. Web is a small company based in St. Petersburg, Russia, with about 200 employees, about 100 of whom are product developers, Kreter said. Its products are sold by ISVs and other resellers.

The company has some big customers in Russia, including the administration of the Russian president, the Russian Parliament, the Russian defense ministry and the Federal Security Service, formerly known as the KGB.

However, antivirus software is a highly competitive field, dominated by heavyweights such as Symantec, Trend Micro and McAfee.

Kreter said the company is trying to move more into western Europe. It is working on marketing its AV-Desk product to ISPs and other service providers, who can provide the antivirus software to their customers as part of a subscription package, Kreter said.

AV-Desk has been on the Russian market for about a year, and the company just launched a version of it in Germany. Dr. Web is going to wait to gauge its performance in Germany before deciding whether to take it to other markets such as the U.K., Kreter said.

IDG News Service

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