As the company that pioneered easy, affordable, and strong security protection for consumers, we know a few things about security. This month, we had the chance to show how we are bringing this expertise to a market we believe is underserved when it comes to security—small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs).
There has been quite a bit of press coverage today about our announcement that the Piriform CCleaner product was illegally modified during the build process to include a backdoor component. Our first priority is our commitment to the safety and securit…
There has been quite a bit of press coverage today about our announcement that the Piriform CCleaner product was illegally modified during the build process to include a backdoor component. Our first priority is our commitment to the safety and securit…
In July 2017, independent test lab AV-Comparatives ran a string of cybersecurity tests on leading brands, and Avast has emerged from each of them with high marks. First we earned its anti-phishing certificate for our protective solutions, then we recei…
For decades, Avast has been successful in providing top-rated, endpoint security for small and medium-sized businesses, including institutions of healthcare, education, retail, manufacturing and real estate, keeping their data and employees safe. Avast has enjoyed an exciting ride, including incredible growth organically and through acquisition. We’ve had a lot going on to keep us strong, but unfortunately, a lot of that growth has complicated the portfolio of brands we offered our business customers.
The catalyst for change
The acquisition of AVG Technologies last October gave Avast an SMB Security Business that was suddenly bigger than ever. Along with that came multiple brand names serving the same business market which—while creating an amazing opportunity for us—also created complexity for our customers. It became clear that it was the right time to put together a plan to unify our brands into one Avast business brand, which we unveiled this month.
1 + 1 = 5
Like all good brand strategies, ours follows business and product strategy. Our goal for the SMB business unit was to take the best technology from both AVG and Avast and create one unified line of products that best serves our customers. By focusing our attention on the Avast master brand, we leveraged its global recognition and strength, and also highlighted “business” in the logo to reinforce our commitment to our business customers.
Here’s what we know: consumer credit report giant Equifax announced today that hackers have exploited a vulnerability in the Equifax website, gaining access to names, addresses, birth dates, social security numbers, and in some cases, driver’s license info. This breach is among the largest on record in the U.S., affecting 44% of the entire population.
You’ve heard of big data…but have you ever actually seen it? Now you can, at our VR showcase taking place at MWCA. We are opening up our virtual reality “big data space” to the public at MWCA, to help everyone better understand how we use big data to protect over 400 million users worldwide.
In today’s digital world, we are literally surrounded by IoT (Internet of Things) devices. Manufacturers of toys, furniture, cars, and medical tools add appeal to their products by including “smart” features. (Even bottle manufacturers sell smart, connected water bottles!) Unfortunately, in this rush to get smart devices to market, there’s a critical component that is all too often an afterthought: security.
Why IoT devices lack security
With no regulations around smart-device security, manufacturers are left to create their own proprietary standards for communication. You can imagine the consequences. Consider a toaster manufacturer, now producing “smart toasters.” Beyond enabling your mobile device to fine-tune the browning levels, now the manufacturer also has to consider how to protect those toasters from hackers?! It’s easy to see how basic principles of modern security can be often neglected, causing unprotected products to get shipped out to consumers who are eagerly awaiting their next “connected” device.
Constant pursuit. Near captures. Repeated escapes. Hackers and their targets seem to be caught in this unending loop of cat-and-mouse action. The hackers pursue incessantly, and while their targets may sometimes escape, at other times they’re not so lucky. How can we change the game?
Avast unveiled new data today that shows a 40% surge in cyberattacks on Android smartphones and tablets. We have addressed these concerns with updates to both Avast Mobile Security & Antivirus and AVG Antivirus mobile apps, now combining the best of each brand’s mobile threat-detection technology in one strong engine. More data will be released next week during Mobile World Congress Americas. Check back here for an update on mobile cybercrime.