Kaspersky Internet Security (often abbreviated to KIS) is an

internet security Internet security is a branch of computer security. It encompasses the Internet, browser security, web site security, and network security as it applies to other applications or operating systems as a whole. Its objective is to establish rules ...

suite developed by

Kaspersky Lab Kaspersky Lab (; ) is a Russian multinational cybersecurity and anti-virus provider headquartered in Moscow, Russia, and operated by a holding company in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1997 by Eugene Kaspersky, Natalya Kaspersky a ...

compatible with

Microsoft Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

and

Mac OS X macOS, previously OS X and originally Mac OS X, is a Unix, Unix-based operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple since 2001. It is the current operating system for Apple's Mac (computer), Mac computers. With ...

. Kaspersky Internet Security offers protection from

malware Malware (a portmanteau of ''malicious software'')Tahir, R. (2018)A study on malware and malware detection techniques . ''International Journal of Education and Management Engineering'', ''8''(2), 20. is any software intentionally designed to caus ...

, as well as

email spam Email spam, also referred to as junk email, spam mail, or simply spam, refers to unsolicited messages sent in bulk via email. The term originates from a Spam (Monty Python), Monty Python sketch, where the name of a canned meat product, "Spam (food ...

phishing Phishing is a form of social engineering and a scam where attackers deceive people into revealing sensitive information or installing malware such as viruses, worms, adware, or ransomware. Phishing attacks have become increasingly sophisticate ...

and hacking attempts, and

data leak A data breach, also known as data leakage, is "the unauthorized exposure, disclosure, or loss of personal information". Attackers have a variety of motives, from financial gain to political activism, political repression, and espionage. There a ...

s. Since 2023, Kaspersky has moved to a subscription model, and in the new lineup, Kaspersky Internet Security was replaced by Kaspersky Plus. KIS regularly participate in and achieve high results in independent tests by

AV-Test AV-TEST is an independent organization which evaluates and rates antivirus and security suite software for Microsoft Windows, macOS and Android operating systems, according to a variety of criteria. The organisation is based in Magdeburg, Germany ...

, AV-Comparatives, and SE Labs. These organizations are members of the

Anti-Malware Testing Standards Organization Anti-Malware Testing Standards Organization (AMTSO) is an international non-profit organization set up in 2008 to address a perceived need for improvement in the quality, relevance and objectivity of anti-malware testing methodologies. Stated obj ...

(AMTSO), which

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...

has adopted as an “industry standard organization” for independent certification purposes.

Windows edition

Version 2007 (6.0)

Version 6.0 was the first release of KIS.

PC World ''PC World'' (stylized as PCWorld) is a global computer magazine published monthly by IDG. Since 2013, it has been an online-only publication. It offers advice on various aspects of PCs and related items, the Internet, and other personal tec ...

magazine noted the pros: 100% detection of common threats, 99.57% detection of

adware Adware, often called advertising-supported software by its developers, is software that generates revenue by automatically displaying Online advertising, online advertisements in the user interface or on a screen presented during the installatio ...

, and 83.3 hidden malware in compressed files. Minuses - version 6.0 didn't completely remove malware, leaving registry entries and files behind, and false positives from the package (8 out of 20,000 clean files were incorrectly labeled as malware). In testing, the firewall blocked all attacks from inside and outside the computer. The

graphical user interface A graphical user interface, or GUI, is a form of user interface that allows user (computing), users to human–computer interaction, interact with electronic devices through Graphics, graphical icon (computing), icons and visual indicators such ...

was considered awkward to navigate, parental controls and

instant messaging Instant messaging (IM) technology is a type of synchronous computer-mediated communication involving the immediate ( real-time) transmission of messages between two or more parties over the Internet or another computer network. Originally involv ...

protection, which were in competing packages, were not included in the 6.0 version, and the retail price of $79.95 was considered relatively high by CNET and PC World. KIS 6.0 supports

Windows 98 SE Windows 98 is a consumer-oriented operating system developed by Microsoft as part of its Windows 9x family of Microsoft Windows operating systems. It was the second operating system in the 9x line, as the successor to Windows 95. It was released ...

, ME, NT Workstation 4.0, 2000 Professional, XP Home Edition, XP Professional, XP Professional x64, and

Vista Vista may refer to: Software *Windows Vista, the line of Microsoft Windows client operating systems released in 2006 and 2007 * VistA, (Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture) a medical records system of the United States ...

Version 2008 (7.0)

In version 7.0, the graphical interface was redesigned: components were renamed, reorganized, and

described the new interface as "intuitive" and "great-looking". Parental control was introduced with settings for different age categories, manual configuration of profiles and their restrictions. There is an option to restrict Internet access by time, manual blocking of

chat rooms The term chat room, or chatroom (and sometimes group chat; abbreviated as GC), is primarily used to describe any form of synchronous conferencing, occasionally even asynchronous conferencing. The term can thus mean any technology, ranging from ...

and sites is available. The

spam filter Email filtering is the processing of email to organize it according to specified criteria. The term can apply to the intervention of human intelligence, but most often refers to the automatic processing of messages at an SMTP server, possibly ap ...

was self-learning based on the user's actions to sort emails. But version 7.0 misidentified 30 percent of acceptable messages in

PC Magazine ''PC Magazine'' (shortened as ''PCMag'') is an American computer magazine published by Ziff Davis. A print edition was published from 1982 to January 2009. Publication of online editions started in late 1994 and continues . Overview ''PC Mag ...

's testing, and 30 percent of spam ended up in the inbox. Data leakage protection was included in the package. Malware protection performed mostly positively in

tests, detecting 100 percent of wildlist threats. But when using signatures from a month ago and a set of new malware, detection dropped to 14 percent. Version 7.0 successfully identified all six active

rootkits A rootkit is a collection of computer software, typically malicious, designed to enable access to a computer or an area of its software that is not otherwise allowed (for example, to an unauthorized user) and often masks its existence or the exist ...

, four of the six inactive rootkits, and was able to remove only two of the six rootkits. This version required Windows XP Service Pack 2, except XP Professional x64 edition, or Vista.

Version 2009 (8.0)

Updated user interface, application filtering module, updated antivirus engine and

vulnerability scanner A vulnerability scanner is a computer program designed to assess computers, networks or applications for known weaknesses. These scanners are used to discover the weaknesses of a given system. They are used in the identification and detection ...

. Added color indication of program status, reduced the number of pop-up notifications to a minimum. Kaspersky claims the core anti-virus engine was revised to increase scan speed. PC Magazine found an initial scan took over two hours, however subsequent scans took two minutes to complete. However, malware detection was relatively low in comparison to other anti-virus applications tested. Out of 650 thousand samples, version 8.0 detected 95.6 percent. The top score was around 99 percent. Using two-week-old signatures, version 8.0 detected 52 percent of viruses in a different set of samples. Kaspersky also blocked about 60 percent of malware based solely on behaviour. The top performers scored 55.3 percent and 80 percent respectively. Version 2009 detected 98.1 percent of

. However, PC World noted to achieve that kind of performance, users will have to modify program settings. On default settings, KIS allowed Zango to install. To block the installation, users must enable KIS to scan for "other malware". The ''Security Analyzer'' looks for operating system and program patches. It also looks for vulnerable system settings, presenting users with a list of recommended actions to prevent malware from gaining access to a system. However, PC World criticized the amount of computer

jargon Jargon, or technical language, is the specialized terminology associated with a particular field or area of activity. Jargon is normally employed in a particular Context (language use), communicative context and may not be well understood outside ...

used and lack of information about how adjust settings appropriately. On the other hand, PC Magazine found the feature straightforward, and often the solution involved downloading and installing an update. KIS uses a whitelist by

Carbon Black Carbon black (with subtypes acetylene black, channel black, furnace black, lamp black and thermal black) is a material produced by the incomplete combustion of coal tar, vegetable matter, or petroleum products, including fuel oil, fluid cataly ...

to classify trusted and malicious programs. Malicious programs are not allowed to run at all. Unknown programs falling in between the two categories are restricted in the actions they can perform. Its firewall blocked all attacks in PC Magazine testing.

Phishing Phishing is a form of social engineering and a scam where attackers deceive people into revealing sensitive information or installing malware such as viruses, worms, adware, or ransomware. Phishing attacks have become increasingly sophisticate ...

protection was introduced in this release. Testing by PC Magazine found the feature blocked 44 percent of phishing URLs.

Internet Explorer 7 Windows Internet Explorer 7 (IE7) (codenamed Rincon) is a version of Internet Explorer, a web browser for Windows. It was released by Microsoft on October 18, 2006. It was the first major update to the browser since 2001. It does not support ve ...

blocked 67 percent of the URLs, and

Mozilla Firefox Mozilla Firefox, or simply Firefox, is a free and open-source web browser developed by the Mozilla Foundation and its subsidiary, the Mozilla Corporation. It uses the Gecko rendering engine to display web pages, which implements curren ...

blocked 81 percent.

Version 2010 (9.0)

Version 2010 of Kaspersky Internet Security introduced an overhauled user interface and a

sandbox A sandbox is a sandpit, a wide, shallow playground construction to hold sand, often made of wood or plastic. Sandbox or sand box may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Sandbox (band), a Canadian rock music group * Sandbox (Gu ...

for running applications in a virtualized environment. The 9.0.0.736 build of KIS 2010 fully supported the

Windows 7 Windows 7 is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was Software release life cycle#Release to manufacturing (RTM), released to manufacturing on July 22, 2009, and became generally available on October 22, ...

operating system.

Version 2011 (11.0)

The beta version was released for all windows users on 8 June 2010. This version included a new interface, as well as a

gadget A gadget is a machine, mechanical device or any ingenious article. Gadgets are sometimes referred to as ''wikt:gizmo, gizmos''. History The etymology of the word is disputed. The word first appears as reference to an 18th-century tool in Glass ...

only available for Windows Vista and Windows 7 users. PC Mag rated this version "very good" (4/5 stars). Its firewall was noted to be very good, but that made up for its only adequate malware detection rates. Two critical fixes have been released by Kaspersky Lab, making the current version 11.0.2.556.

Version 2012 (12.0)

On 1 March 2011, Kaspersky released the first build of version 2012, it came out as beta version and in English, French and Russian version, with more versions due out later. On 7 June 2011 Kaspersky Lab announced the commercial release of Kaspersky Internet Security 2012 in France, Germany, Switzerland. The current version is 12.0.0.374.

Version 2013 (13.0)

The beta version was released for all windows users on 3 March 2012. This version includes an interface which looks (currently, at least) much like Internet Security 2012. There is no Safe Run option, no Proactive Defense, while instead the behavioural monitoring System Watcher seems to be taking greater responsibility for detecting malware and a Safe Banking feature has been added. The release candidate (build 13.0.1.4088 RC) was released for all windows users on 20 July 2012. The Final Version was released on 28 August 2012 build 13.0.1.4190

Version 2014 (14.0)

Beta testing started on 12 March 2013. This version introduced a Windows 8 like GUI design. The final version was released on 3 August 2013 build 14.0.0.4651 in India and Russia, then on August 13 in the US and August 27 in the UK. The 2014 release was frequently characterized as inferior to user expectations, largely due to its removal of a range of

granular Granularity (also called graininess) is the degree to which a material or system is composed of distinction (philosophy), distinguishable pieces, granular material, "granules" or grain, "grains" (metaphorically). It can either refer to the exten ...

fine-tuning options in 2013 and earlier, which were used by experienced users; a number of these were added back in the 2015 beta by the time of its technical release (build 463). As of February 13, 2014 build 14.0.0.4651(E) was released. Build 14.0.0.4651(I) is the latest (current) version.

Version 2015 (15.0)

In April 2014, a

beta version The software release life cycle is the process of developing, testing, and distributing a software product (e.g., an operating system). It typically consists of several stages, such as pre-alpha, alpha, beta, and release candidate, before the fi ...

of the 2015 product, build 463, was released, followed by a technical release preview, of the near-complete 2015 product. The first official release of the product was in

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

in June 2014.

Version 2017 (17.0)

Version 2018 (18.0)

Version 2019 (19.0)

Version 2020 (20.0)

Version 2021 (21.0)

Controversies regarding security

In March 2015,

Bloomberg Bloomberg may refer to: People * Daniel J. Bloomberg (1905–1984), audio engineer * Georgina Bloomberg (born 1983), professional equestrian * Michael Bloomberg (born 1942), American businessman and founder of Bloomberg L.P.; politician a ...

accused Kaspersky of having close ties to Russian military and intelligence officials. Kaspersky slammed the claims in his blog, calling the coverage "sensationalist" and guilty of "exploiting paranoia" to "increase readership". As a result of alleged Russian involvement in the

2016 United States presidential election United States presidential election, Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 8, 2016. The Republican Party (United States), Republican ticket of businessman Donald Trump and Indiana Governor, Indiana governor Mike P ...

and ongoing investigations, the

Department of Homeland Security The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior, home, or public security ministries in other countries. Its missions invol ...

officially banned the use of the Kaspersky Internet Security by the United States federal government in September 2017. As of December 12, 2017, the use of Kaspersky software is banned from use by the American federal government by law. On March 25, 2022, the FCC added Kaspersky software to its list of equipment and software that provide an unacceptable risk to the national security of the United States or the security and safety of United States persons On June 20, 2024, the

Bureau of Industry and Security The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) is an agency of the United States Department of Commerce that deals with issues involving national security and high technology. A principal goal for the bureau is helping stop the proliferation of weap ...

banned the sale of the software in the US, asking citizens who use it to switch to an alternative. The Bureau states that the company poses a national threat due to being based in Russia. The ban is scheduled to take effect on July 20 with updates for existing customers allowed until September 29.

References

External links

* {{Firewall software 2006 software Antivirus software Firewall software Security software Proprietary software Windows security software MacOS security software Linux security software