News

Kaspersky Launches Office 365 Security Tool for Exchange Online

• By Kurt Mackie
• February 05, 2018

A new cloud-based security solution to protect Exchange Online users is now available from software security company Kaspersky Lab.

Launched last week, Kaspersky Security for Microsoft Office 365 brings filters for ransomware, phishing attempts, malicious e-mail attachments and spam to Exchange Online. It also checks for "business e-mail compromise" and "unknown threats," according to the announcement.

The service uses Kaspersky Lab's cloud-based threat intelligence network to provide those protections.

Users of the service get an administrative console that provides a dashboard view of threat detections and also lets them "backup and recover deleted emails." The administrative console can be used by managed service providers and "outsourced IT administrators." The service supports "multiple accounts for different administrators," as well.

Kaspersky Security for Microsoft Office 365 works in conjunction with Microsoft's own default Exchange Online protections, but it also offers additional capabilities. Kaspersky's service demonstrated improved spam-blocking protections while not incurring a greater false-positive rates when compared with Exchange Online's default protections, according to a study published in January by independent tester Virus Bulletin (PDF).

Microsoft offers its Exchange Online Protection service as an added protection against spam and malware, but it's an option for Exchange Online users that comes at an extra monthly cost.

Kaspersky Security for Microsoft Office 365 is currently available in all markets worldwide, according to a Kaspersky Lab spokesperson. It can be purchased online or there's a sign up for a 30-day trial, both of which can be accessed at this page. An introduction to the service and setup instructions are illustrated in these videos.

Pricing for Kaspersky Security for Microsoft Office 365 starts at "$22.90 per protected mailbox (10-14 mailboxes)," according to a company spokesperson, and "includes standard support." Kaspersky Lab also offers volume discounts. There's no limit on the number of mailboxes that can be covered.

Kaspersky Security for Microsoft Office 365 can also be purchased from Kaspersky Lab's partners starting on Feb. 8.

Kaspersky's service isn't a protection for all Office 365 applications; it's just for Exchange Online. But other prospects aren't ruled out.

"Our product is tightly targeted to cloud mail protection -- for now," the spokesperson indicated via e-mail. "However, we are completely open to customer requests."