Panda announces antimalware service

Panda Security Monday announced Panda Managed Office Protection, its security-as-a-service for antimalware defense offered as an alternative to in-house software distribution through dedicated equipment.

Intended for small to midsize businesses, "this gives customers the ability to have an ant-virus application that is easy to install through administrative management control via Web-based interface," says Didier Guibal, president of Panda Security USA.

The Panda security software distribution originates "in the cloud" through Panda Security data canters to enterprise desktops. Other vendors providing security-as-a service offerings include IBM, MessageLabs and McAfee.

The Panda Security service includes remote management tools that let managers carry out tasks remotely for each computer, such as scanning options, changing user profiles, IP address tracking and enabling or disabling e-mail protection or firewall settings.

For the Panda Security service, the user desktop must be equipped with a small software agent. The Panda Managed office protection costs approximately $60 per node.