Google announced yesterday the launch of its Web Security for Enterprises, which is expected to provide a high level of system protection for corporate networks. The security features will include shielding from viruses, spyware and malicious web sites.

The technology used is provided by ScanSafe and for accessibility, the company uses the same Google Apps security and compliance administration console. The console already includes Gmail, Google Calendar, Talk, Docs, Page Creator and Sites.

The price for an annual subscription will be of $36 with an additional $12 per year for every mobile user covered. The additional service will be greatly appreciated by employees working outside the office, as the product will offer the same protection to users handling their work on laptops or guest networks.

"Formerly, this would have been about $100 per user," said Scott Petry, director of product management at Google, to Network World.

With their offer out on the market, Google is looking to make a strong move on the Software as a Service (Sass) market and also further progress into the enterprise market.

Google bought e-mail security company Postini in July last year for $625 million in cash. Postini was producing technology used to encrypt and archive e-mails and instant messages which could also be used to protect a company’s entire web-based communications. At the moment of the acquisition, Postini protected more than 35,000 businesses and 10 million users worldwide. Google today has about 40,000 businesses and 14 million users using Postini services.