eEye Eyes Share Of Antivirus Market

eEye Digital Security sees opportunity in what it calls the market's growing disenchantment with bloated, ineffective antivirus software from entrenched players.

With its rollout of Blink Professional 3.0 end-point security software on Monday, Aliso Viejo, Calif.-based eEye added antivirus features to complement the product's host-based intrusion prevention system and application firewall.

In a time when attacks are becoming more complex, it might seem odd for a vendor to be touting the addition of antivirus technology. However, eEye CEO Ross Brown said most antivirus engines can't do heuristic analysis, which has allowed virus writers to target the 80 percent market share held by the major antivirus technology players.

As a result, there's an opportunity for smaller security players to bring more effective, lightweight alternatives to the table, according to Brown. "Customers are starting to look for a 'hard reset' on client security, and they're evaluating options from other vendors," he said.

In Blink Professional 3.0, eEye has added sandboxing technology through a partnership with Norwegian security vendor Norman Data Defense, enabling Blink Professional 3.0 to test executable files in a virtual environment before letting them run on the client, Brown said.

Blink Professional 3.0 uses more than 700 rules to detect malware and can pinpoint malicious files masquerading as other file types. The software also can determine if code has been compiled using Borland, the preferred tool for malware writers, Brown said.

So far, the early returns look good for eEye's channel partners. eEye recently closed a $300,000 deal in which Blink Professional 3.0 replaced another antivirus product, and the solution providers attached to the deal received a 25 percent margin, Brown noted.

Blink Professional 3.0, available now, starts at an annual price of $59 per agent.

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