Kaspersky Labs has released version 4.5 of Kaspersky Security for PDA ($19), an all around handheld security application for Windows CE/Pocket PC and the Palm OS.

The company said the software includes anti-virus measures, a two-tiered system that controls access to data (system passwords and data encryption) as well as a management console that enables the automatic retrieval and processing of anti-virus database updates via the Internet.

It includes both a scanner and a monitor module handle anti-virus filtration. The scanner checks information stored on a handheld, including expansion cards of any type, ROM files, databases, and network folders, while, according to Kaspersky, the monitor, detects and neutralizes malicious programs found in data, transferred when using the HotSync utility or when data is beamed from other portable devices.

The software also protects against unauthorized access with a password system based on the cryptographic function MD-5 HASH. Additionally, the software enables the encoding of any data types found on either a handheld itself or on any expansion cards. Personal data assistants running Windows CE/Pocket PC can create folders whose contents are encoded "on-the-fly" with the RC5 and RC6 algorithms.