Malwarebytes Takes First Step Toward Enterprise With New Offering

Ken Presti

September 17, 2012, 02:00 AM EDT

San Jose-based Malwarebytes has rolled out its new Malwarebytes Enterprise Edition, which offers centrally-managed threat protection and malware remediation that runs on top of existing security infrastructures, including anti-virus. The product is designed to work in both physical and virtualized environments.

The product leverages the experience gained from the extremely popular Malwarebytes Anti-Malware product, which has been used by over 150 million people worldwide to block or remove over five billion pieces of malware. The enterprise edition is aimed at protecting companies of all sizes from the threats posed by cutting-edge malware such as zero-day, polymorphic and blended malware threats that can evade traditional enterprise anti-virus solutions.

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"This was driven by market demands," said COO Marcus Chung. "We work in conjunction with anti-virus, so that we can focus on the types of threats that they miss while at the same time leveraging their capabilities."

Threat protection is provided through a combination of predictive heuristics, behavioral and signature analysis that is designed to identify and block entire families of malware and even predict future mutations, leveraging information from the company's global intelligence network, the Malwarebytes community and malware research.

"The same core engine is utilized in the enterprise product," added Chung. "The key differences include the level of integration of the management console with the client, and the ability to configure policies and push them out, and enforce them on the endpoints. We also built out the reporting capability to develop more granular information on trends and the blocks against infections, as well as things like which clients are out of date.

Configurations can also be tested before they are deployed, according to Chung.

"I wrote the original product when I was infected about six years ago," said CEO Marcin Kleczynski. "I recognized that my anti-virus had failed me because I'd gotten something that nobody was able to detect. Ninety percent of our efforts are on zero-day malware, which most AV products don't catch. And we can rip out the entire infection. Traditional anti-virus packages only go after primary components of the infection and very often leave traces behind."

While the product has long been a free download, both executives agree that there is a substantial opportunity for channel partners to leverage the value proposition of the enterprise product. "It is extremely important to leverage the channel, and there could be incremental additional revenue for channel partners working in the AV space and adding additional security technologies to the mix," said Chung.

A full-fledged channel program is expected to be rolled out early next year.

The product is available immediately with pricing that starts at $1,315 for $100 seat license. Support packages are available, and special discounts are extended to government, education and non-profit organizations.

PUBLISHED SEPT. 17, 2012