Technological Advancements and Security

Kaspersky Lab Technology and Product Review for Endpoint Protection Solutions: Kasperksy Lab Whereas technological advancements have presented important advantages for business organisations, they have increased security concerns. Viruses, worms, hacking, identity theft, and other cyber threats have been on the rise, with cyber criminals advancing in skill, expertise, and shrewdness.

These threats, which are increasingly targeted at the point of the end user, can result in the loss of critical and confidential information such as customer data and business secrets, consequently leading to dire consequences on an organisation, such as reduced customer confidence, loss of revenue, and expensive lawsuits. To avoid this risk, it is important for Red Clay Renovations to have a strong endpoint protection platform.

This is particularly crucial given the widespread usage of intermittent cellular devices by employees to access the internet and the organisation's network while in the field. Endpoint protection platforms provide endpoints with defence against security exploits by identifying threat signatures, detecting intrusions, avoiding unexpected traffic, whitelisting, and rootkit protection (Wilkins, 2014). One endpoint protection solution the organisation can use is Kaspersky Lab. This paper provides a review of the software, clearly highlighting its features, capabilities, deficiencies, as well as its usage in minimising cyber security risks.

With origins in Russia, Kaspersky Lab is arguably the strongest and most popular endpoint protection solution. Indeed, Gartner's Gartner Magic Quadrant has named it as the world leader in endpoint protection platforms. Its products have been touted for discovering several formerly unidentified viruses and security vulnerabilities such as Stuxnet, Flame, Red October, Mask, Regin, and the Android cyber espionage (Kaspersky Lab, n.d.).

Among a host of other cyber security solutions, the firm provides anti-virus software, internet security solutions, password management services, and endpoint security products to individuals and organisations all over the world (Kaspersky Lab, n.d.). Its products provide protection against malware, monitor end-user devices for suspicious programs, and detect potentially unsafe websites. One of the firm's endpoint security platforms is the Kaspersky Endpoint Security for Business Suite, which is specifically designed for corporate users.

The platform provides protection against cyber security vulnerabilities targeted at laptops, smartphones, tablets, and personal computers; and is available for iOS, Android, Symbian, Windows, and BlackBerry operating systems (OSs) (Kaspersky Lab, n.d.). This platform is particularly suitable for the organisation, which currently relies on Microsoft Windows Defender and Microsoft Windows Firewall. These platforms do not offer strong security measures, and can readily be compromised.

The organisation's construction managers and architects rely on laptops and cellular devices to access its web-based project management system, email servers, as well as web-based business applications, necessitating the need for the stronger Kaspersky platform. Though costlier in most cases, Kaspersky has unique features and capabilities that make it a more ideal endpoint security solution compared to its major rivals, notably Bitdefender, McAfee, Webroot SecureAnywhere, ESET, Avast, Avira, Norton, and Trend Micro Antivirus.

Kasperksy's layout is user friendly, easily allowing end users to scan malware, view security reports, and update the signature database. For full antivirus scans, the platform takes 24 minutes on average compared to 43 minutes or more for other products (Rubenking, 2016). In fact, independent lab tests rate Kaspersky at the top in terms of usability, performance, static and dynamic protection, antiphishing, as well as malware protection without user intervention (Rubenking, 2016).

Other attractive features of Kaspersky include unmatched ability to prevent keyloggers from collecting passwords, features for reporting OS configurations that are not good for security, as well as automated updates. In spite of its strong security features, Kasperksy has some deficiencies. For instance, the platform has a lower rate for real-time malware detection compared to rivals like Avira, Norton, and McAfee. On this metric, the platform scores not more than 84%; this is quite low compared to 90% and above for some rival products (Rubenking, 2016).

Another common deficiency relates to program incompatibilities (Consumer Affairs, 2016). Further, owing to its Russian origin, there have been allegations that Kaspersky's software performs unhidden operations tied to Russian mafias and intelligence apparatuses (Consumer Affairs, 2016). In fact, though no evidence has been presented to support these allegations, Kaspersky's adoption in the U.S. has stagnated or reduced, with users worrying that the firm could be partnering with Russian government to sabotage the U.S. or advance Russian interests.

With these deficiencies, however, Kaspersky still remains a winner as far as endpoint protection is concerned. On account of its strengths, Red Clay should adopt Kaspesky across the organisation to reduce cyber security risks, increase resistance to threats, and decrease vulnerabilities. The platform should be installed in every end user device utilised both at the office and in the field. These include laptops, PCs, and cellular.