Lavasoft
 | |
| Private limited company | |
| Founded | Germany (1999) |
| Headquarters | Montreal, Canada |
| Products |
Ad-Aware Lavasoft Digital Lock Lavasoft File Shredder Ad-Aware Web Companion Lavasoft Privacy Toolbox |
| Website | www.lavasoft.com |
Lavasoft is a software development company that produces spyware and malware software,[1] including Ad‐Aware.
The company offers a free, downloadable version of Ad‐Aware titled Ad‐Aware Free Antivirus+ and three commercial versions called Ad‐Aware Personal Security, Ad-Aware Pro Security and Ad-Aware Total Security.[2] Other Lavasoft products include Ad-Aware Web Companion, Lavasoft Digital Lock, Lavasoft File Shredder, Lavasoft Privacy Toolbox and Lavasoft Registry Tuner.
Lavasoft’s headquarters are in Montreal, Canada, having previously been located in Gothenburg, Sweden since 2002. Nicolas Stark and Ann-Christine Åkerlund established the company in Germany in 1999 with its flagship Ad-Aware product. In 2011, Lavasoft was acquired by the Solaria Fund.[3]
Products
- Malware products: Ad-Aware
- Ad-Aware Free Antivirus+
- Ad-Aware Personal Security
- Ad-Aware Pro Security
- Ad-Aware Total Security
- Ad-Aware Web Companion
- Lavasoft AdBlocker
- PC tune-up products:
- Lavasoft TuneUp Kit
- Lavasoft PC Optimizer
- Lavasoft Driver Updater
- Lavasoft Registry Tuner
- Data security products:
- Lavasoft File Shredder
- Lavasoft Digital Lock
- Lavasoft Encryption Reader
- Lavasoft Privacy ToolBox - contains File Shredder, Digital Lock, and Encryption Reader
Controversies
The company was acquired in January 2011 by the Solaria Fund, a private equity fund.[3] It was soon discovered that the fund was actually a cover-up for the entrepreneurs (Daniel Assouline and Michael Dadoun) behind UpClick and Interactive Brands.[4] SC Magazine discovered that Lavasoft had been acquired by the same entrepreneurs who have been accused of selling software that is available for free (such as the free version of AVG antivirus) to unwitting users under the guise of premium support.[5] Assouline and Dadoun used to sell the free version of Lavasoft's security program prior to acquiring the company itself. This has been well-documented by security consultants such as Dancho Danchev.[6]
References
- ↑ "About Lavasoft". Lavasoft. Retrieved 2012-05-25.
- ↑ "Ad-Aware - Antivirus software with virus and spyware removal". Lavasoft. Retrieved 2012-05-25.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Solaria Fund acquires software business from Lavasoft - Mannheimer Swartling". Mannheimerswartling.se. 2011-01-18. Retrieved 2012-05-25.
- ↑ "Daniel Assouline - SC Magazine". Scmagazineus.com. 2011-08-05. Retrieved 2012-07-14.
- ↑ Danny Bradbury (2006-03-03). "Money for nothing | Media". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 2012-05-25.
- ↑ Danchev, Dancho (2008-03-20). "Dancho Danchev's Blog - Mind Streams of Information Security Knowledge: Cybersquatting Security Vendors for Fraudulent Purposes". Ddanchev.blogspot.com. Retrieved 2012-05-25.