After a year of testing, Kaspersky Lab has finally started to roll out the free version of its anti-virus software globally. Called Kaspersky Free, the software is being rolled out in phases and should be available in India sometime in the later half of September. The company notes that the free version will not compete with its paid versions as those versions offer a bunch of extra features like Parental Control, Online Payment Protection, and Secure. However, the free version will offer basic protection features such as file, email, and web antivirus, automatic updates, Self-Defence, quarantine and more. The company also notes that while Kaspersky Free is based on the same technologies as the paid versions, the software is lighter and faster than them.
Eugene Kaspersky, the company’s founder said in a blog post, “Last year the product successfully piloted in the Russia-Ukraine-Belarus region, in China, and also in the Nordic countries (that’s Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland, in case you were wondering). I say successfully… – that would be an understatement; for with practically zero promo activity Kaspersky Free was installed several million times, in doing so cranking up our market share considerably. Not that increasing market share is our aim; our aim is to raise the overall level of protection on the Internet. Anyway, here’s thanks to all Kaspersky Free users for helping us save the world!”
The launch of Kaspersky Free should come as welcome news to anyone looking for a free antivirus service from a reputed company. We've already seen two major attacks on a global scale in the form of WannaCry and Petya and this new software should help people sleep a little more peacefully at night.