UK firms say that 81 per cent of services launched in virtual environments are business critical, but a worrying 41 per cent of the IT professionals responsible say their knowledge or experience of virtual IT is ‘just enough' or ‘basic', according to research released today by Kaspersky Lab.

The study, conducted globally among businesses with 100 or more IT workstations, also found that 18 per cent of UK firms surveyed had patched virtual IT security on to their existing physical IT protection policy. Meanwhile, 45 per cent had introduced a separate security policy just for virtual IT - significantly increasing risk in the first instance and IT management complexity in the second; weighing down the IT infrastructure and delaying the return on investment.

To help companies reap the productivity and efficiency benefits of virtual IT with none of the security risks and complications, Kaspersky Lab has developed Kaspersky Security for Virtualization. The new solution integrates seamlessly with the ‘rest of Kaspersky Lab's corporate security suite, and can also be managed centrally from Kaspersky Security Centre 9. Its introduction means that Kaspersky Lab can now offer customers a single, unified management and security platform across their entire virtual, physical and mobile environments, providing users with an unrivalled mix of easy administration and next-generation protection.

Kaspersky Security for Virtualization integrates seamlessly with VMware vShield Endpoint Security to provide virtual IT infrastructures with centralised anti-malware security featuring Kaspersky Lab's award-winning anti-malware protection. The centrally managed Kaspersky Security for Virtualization automatically detects, scans, protects and updates every virtual machine on the network, including virtual data centres, servers and desktops - all from a single virtual appliance. New machines added to the network will be protected automatically.

Peter Beardmore, Senior Director of Products and Services from Kaspersky Lab, said: "Virtualization is a vitally important and transformational technology that offers many business benefits, including enhanced IT efficiency. However it requires customers to think differently about how to secure IT from potential cybercrime and malicious attacks.

"Kaspersky Lab, in partnership with VMware, offers customers a holistic protection suite that can be managed centrally, whatever the environment and without the drain on performance that many traditional anti-malware solutions bring with them. You retain all the business benefits that you have targeted with virtualizing IT, but without the security risk."

Jonathan Gohstand, Director of Product Marketing, Networking and Security at VMware adds, "It's more important now than ever before that IT departments provide safe, reliable access to business-critical applications and data. The integration of Kaspersky Security for Virtualisationwith VMware vShield Endpoint Security helps IT departments implement security where it needs to be - right at the centre of the IT infrastructure, rather than added on as an afterthought. This tool enables IT teams to minimise risk while they do the important job of supporting and growing the business."

More information on the full portfolio of Kaspersky Lab corporate security products can be found at http://www.kaspersky.com/beready.