| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Computer software |
| Founded | Czech Republic (1991) |
| Founder(s) | Jan Gritzbach Tomáš Hofer |
| Headquarters | Brno, Czech Republic |
| Area served | Worldwide |
| Key people | J.R. Smith, CEO Dale Fuller, Chairman Karel Obluk, CS John Little, CFO Steve Hardon, CRO |
| Products | Antivirus software |
| Employees | 663 worldwide |
| Website | www.avg.com |
AVG Technologies (formerly named Grisoft) is a privately held Czech company formed in 1991 by Jan Gritzbach and Tomas Hofer, with corporate offices in Europe and the United States. The company specializes in computer security software.
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In 2001, Jan Gritzbach decided to sell Grisoft to Benson Oak Capital Acquisitions. Four years later, Benson Oak sold a 65% share in the company to Intel Capital and Enterprise Investors for $52 million.[2][3][4]
On April 19, 2006, Grisoft acquired the German company ewido Networks, an anti-spyware software manufacturer, and incorporated ewido's features into new versions of AVG software.[5][6]
On November 6, 2006, Microsoft announced that AVG Security products would be available directly from the Windows Security Center in Windows Vista.[7] Since June 7, 2006, the AVG software has also been used as an optional component of GFI MailSecurity, produced by GFI Software.[8]
On December 5, 2007, Grisoft announced the acquisition of Exploit Prevention Labs, developer of the LinkScanner safe surfing technology. [9]
In February 2008, Grisoft was officially renamed AVG Technologies. This change was made to increase the effectiveness of their marketing activities.[10]
In January 2009, AVG announced their plans to acquire Sana Security are finalized. Plans to integrate Sana's technologies in their free consumer product, AVG Anti-Virus, are still under consideration, according to JR Smith, AVG's chief executive. Sana Security's developed technologies are currently licensed to Symantec.[11][12][13]
On October 5, 2009, TA Associates announced that they bought a minority stake in AVG Technologies for more than $200 million.[14]
On June 9, 2010, AVG announced the acquisition of North Carolina-based Walling Data, a North America security software distribution that has distributed AVG offerings across the United States since 2001[15]
On November 10, 2010, AVG announced the acquisition of Tel Aviv-based DroidSecurity, a company that specializes int the field of mobile security solutions, for Android devices. Upon completion of the acquisition DroidSecurity will become a wholly owned subsidiary of AVG and DroidSecurity CEO and co-founder, Eran Pfeffer, will become the general manager of AVG’s Mobile Solutions Team.[16]
In December of 2010, AVG released a mandatory-install update to the 2011 version of its antivirus software which caused thousands of 64 bit Windows Vista and Windows 7 computers to become completely inoperable. AVG has since released a fix which attempts to repair computers bricked after installing the update. Affected users can watch the following video on AVG's Official YouTube page to resolve the issue http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fam3-KSfA3A
On July 1, 2010 AVG partnered with Opera Software to provide malware security in their web browser Opera, the protection was added to the existing Fraud Protection technology (Netcraft and PhishTank from Haute Secure).[17]
On August 20, 2010 AVG entered into partnership with MokaFive to secure desktop virtualisation solutions. The partnership adds a critical security layer to the virtual desktop marketplace, as more enterprise companies are turning to desktop virtualization as a secure solution for bringing your own computer (BYOC) and work from home initiatives for employees. [18]