Woburn, MA – August 20, 2018 – Kaspersky Internet Security has received the annual MRG Effitas Online Banking/Browser Security Award 2017/18, after consistently passing quarterly banking certification tests across a 12-month period. This is the fourth consecutive test in which Kaspersky Lab has received this award, emphasizing the solution’s reliability and efficiency against a growing array of financial threats, as well as its advantages over competing products.

With over three-quarters (79%) of consumers using digital devices for online banking and 82 percent regularly paying for goods or services online, securing financial transactions from cyberthreats has never been more critical. To help consumers take the right steps to protect themselves, MRG Effitas evaluates the quality and ability of security solutions to safeguard users and their money from an increasing number of financial threats. The highest-performing solutions are then awarded with a vendor-independent certification.

Kaspersky Internet Security stood up to the rigors of numerous ‘in-the-wild’ financial malware and botnet tests in the last three quarters of 2017 and the first quarter of 2018, to achieve certification. The product was tested in real-life scenarios where online shopping and banking transactions could become compromised by financial malware.

During the process, the Kaspersky Lab solution was inundated with numerous botnets which are prevalent within the cyberthreat landscape and could cause a headache for consumers if not detected and blocked. These botnets included modified TinyNuke and Zeus clones, as well as a DoublePulsar backdoor with Peddlecheap keylogger.

Simulator tests also saw Kaspersky Internet Security deal with attacks on system functionalities that could impact and modify key device processes if allowed to take hold. These included Powershell webinject and intercept, API Hooking, browser TLS extract and dissect, and ETW debug log trace and extract.

“With the number and complexity of financial threats continuing to grow, it is more important than ever that people have access to powerful and consistently proven solutions in order to protect themselves when shopping and banking online,” said Timur Biyachuev, vice president of threat research at Kaspersky Lab. “Our security solution has repeatedly passed tough, independent tests set by MRG Effitas over an extended period of time, and achieving the overall annual award is testament to the evolving nature of Kaspersky Internet Security to cope with ever-increasing threats on financial transactions.”

The Safe Money feature within Kaspersky Internet Security provides users with an additional layer of protection when shopping or banking online. Whether users are paying for goods with a credit card, making a bank transfer or using PayPal, the Safe Money feature offers peace of mind that every transaction is secure and that any financial details and personal information are protected from cyberthreats.

The MRG Effitas award is a testament to the proven capabilities of Kaspersky Lab products, which have been demonstrated consistently in independent tests, making them the most tested and most awarded security solutions on the market.