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Cylance – A Billion-Dollar Cybersecurity Startup Founded By A Former Executive Of McAfee.

Cylance is a cybersecurity software firm founded in 2012. It is a young company and has already reached a billion-dollar valuation. Cylance is a privately-held company as in 2019 it was acquired by BlackBerry Limited for $1.4 billion. Stuart McClure, a former executive at McAfee is the founder of Cylance and now product and service are under the brand name of BlackBerry. The company’s headquarters is based in Irvine, California, US. Cylance mainly develops antivirus software programs and other related computer software. When Cylance was an independent company it claimed that the company focuses on preventive software rather than malware detection.

Backstory of Cylance

Stuart McClure was a cybersecurity researcher and before founding Cylance he was the global Chief Technology Officer at McAfee. While he was working as the CTO of McAfee, he spend half of his time apologizing to the customers of McAfee for data breaches. And, McClure said mentioned that every breach seemed to be worse than the previous one. This defamed the company and each and every day McClure had a long conversation with top priority clients of McAfee.

Several clients asked him what are the types of software and the various layer of security system that is used by the company to prevent such data breaches. While going through this phase of constant questioning and allegations, he realized that there are no new ways of hacking a system. And if he can teach the computer to prevent such attacks that would solve the main problem. This was the beginning of Cylance and he started thinking of a new project.

Early Days

Apart from McClure, Ryan Permeh, the former chief scientist of McAfee is also one of the main brains behind founding Cylance. McClure’s approach towards its customers was not in a conventional way that is used by most cybersecurity companies. For example, many big companies try to intimidate clients by saying that there are several ways that a hacker can compromise a system and that is why advanced solutions are required to prevent such attacks. But McClure was very honest and transparent at Cylance from the beginning. He said that there can be only a handful of ways through which a hacker can penetrate a company’s network. And if someone knows the way around their system then it becomes easier to understand how the mindset of the hacker and how that breach can be prevented.

Success

After Cylance was founded it was able to land many big reputed clients like Toyota, Panasonic, WWE, etc. In 2015, the company raised $42 million from funding rounds which included investors like CapitalOne, Dell, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, and many more. In 2016, the company was able to raise another $100 million and the main investors were Blackstone Tactical Opportunities and Insight Venture Partners. The reputation of the company rose in 2016 when the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform reported the worst data breach and was fixed by Cylance. After it fixed a big data breach for the US government, Dell also announced that the company would incorporate Cylance in the machines sold to corporate customers. With more investors coming on board by the end of 2015, Cylance reached the mark of a $1 billion valuation. In the same year, the company also ranked 26th in Inc 5000, and the annual revenue of the company summed up to $11.1 million.

Awards & Recognitions

Cylance has been awarded several prestigious awards and also featured in many renowned magazines. Only four years after founding the company, Cylance was featured in Forbes in 2016 in the Forbes Cloud 100 list. In the same years, it was also named Orange County Entrepreneur of the Year. In 2017 the company was recognized by LinkedIn as one of the “Top Companies | Startups” of the year 2017 and next year it won the MSPWorld Cup Award.

Stuart McClure – Founder of Cylance

Stuart McClure is the founder and former CEO of the company until the company was acquired by BlackBerry. Before founding Cylance, Stuart McCLure was the EVP, Global CTO, and General Manager of McAfee. He also wrote a book on cybersecurity called Hacking Exposed.

Annasha

Annasha Dey is an NIT student, who apart from studying engineering is also a content writer. She has a great interest in photography, writing, reading novels, and travelling as well. She is a foodie who loves socializing and hanging out with her friends. She is also a trained Kathak dancer and a big fashion enthusiast. Dey also loves watching TV series, which includes F.R.I.E.N.D.S. and Big Bang Theory. To be a better writer she prefers to read more

ESET – Establishing a Secure Digital Environment for People.

Though having computers connected with the internet has brought lots of benefits for people, making the work faster and accurate, it has also caused some threats to the same work. With the rise in the facilities with the technology, people are now more prone to data theft and malware on their computers. So since we needed the IT field to grow, we also needed some software and techniques to tackle such situations. For that, many companies started to work to provide security in the form of antiviruses and firewalls such that from surfing on the internet to making huge transactions online have become safer.
One of such companies that have been working to make the internet a safer place for people is ESET. ESET is almost 30 years old and has earned a good reputation as a security software development company in the industry. In fact, ESET is one of the most successful Slovak IT companies in the IT industry. The company provides security solutions for Windows, Linux, Mac as well as Android devices.

About the Company

ESET is a Bratislava, Slovakia-based software technology company, founded in 1992. The company mainly deals in the development of antivirus and security software. It has a long product list, among which, ESET Smart Security for Windows, ESET Cybersecurity for Mac, ESET Mobile Security for smartphones, and ESET SysRescue Live the most famous ones. The company is the home for more than 1700 employees and as of 2018, made revenues worth €504 million. In the past thirty years, the company has successfully expanded its operations overseas, having its multiple branches based in over 200+ countries, including the US, Canada, Argentina, Brazil, and Australia, etc.

The Founding of ESET

Rudolf Hrubý, Peter Paško, and Miroslav Trnka are known as the founders of ESET. Miroslav Trnka and Peter Paško had already worked together on the antivirus software named NOD in 1987. The two met Rudolf Hrubý and partnered with him to build a new company, named ESET. The name was taken from the Egyptian goddess of health, marriage, and love. The three founded the company in 1992 with NOD as their first product. In 1998, they brought the next version of NOD, the NOD32 Antivirus, which in the same year was awarded the first Virus Bulletin Test award. The success of the product helped the company to grow outside the country as well, and they opened branches in countries like the US, Argentina, Singapore, etc., during the same time.
In 2001, ESET went on to open another branch in Prague, Czech Republic, and in 2008, the company established its Research and Development Center in Poland. The next year, the company was honored with the CNET Editor’s Choice Award under the Internet security suite category for ESET’s Smart Security 4. In 2011, the company was awarded the Global Customer Value Enhancement Award, followed by the North American Endpoint Security Products Customer Value Enhancement Award in 2012.
In 2012, ESET established another Research and Development Center in Montreal, Canada. Till now, Company has established 13 such centers in different parts of the world. The company also launched its first authentication product named ESET Secure Authentication as well as the Managed Service Provider (MSP) Program, in 2013. The company’s Endpoint Security software also won the Best Antivirus Software by Maximum PC in 2013. In 2018, the company became a part of 40 companies’ initiative to protect the end-user data providing cybersecurity through the Cybersecurity Tech Accord program.
Compay provides cybersecurity as well as antivirus solutions to homes, offices as well as enterprises. Smart Security, Internet Security, NOD32 Antivirus, Cyber Security, Endpoint, Remote Administrator 6, ESET SysRescue Live are some of ESET’s major products.

The CEO at ESET

Richard Marko is the current CEO at ESET. He has been voted as the “Most Respected CEO” in Slovakia in 2015, by 121 business leaders. Marko went to the Slovak Technical University in KoÅ¡ice and received a graduate degree in Information Systems Department in 1996. He has been with the company from the very beginning and was one of the authors of ESET NOD32 Antivirus scanning engine. He worked as the Chief Software Architect of the scanning core for a period of ten years, and in 2008 he was appointed as the CTO at ESET. In January 2011, he became the CEO of ESET.

Yashica Vashishtha

Yashica is a Software Engineer turned Content Writer, who loves to write on social causes and expertise in writing technical stuff. She loves to watch movies and explore new places. She believes that you need to live once before you die. So experimenting with her life and career choices, she is trying to live her life to the fullest.

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German company Avira famous for its antivirus software is acquired by Investcorp

Leave a Comment / Product, Tech Story / By Annasha

Founded in 2006, Avira is a German software company mastering in the sector of the security system. The most famous product of Avira, Avira free antivirus application was developed during the 1980s by the predecessor company of Avira, H+BEDV Datentechnik GmbH. Over time it has been modified several times for Android, iOS, and Windows. Avira has also expanded its product spectrum entering the world of IoT. Avira used to support the Linux OS as well but discontinued it in 2013.

Tjark Auerbach is the founder of the company. Tjark is born in 1957 and he is currently famous as the Former CEO of Avira.

Success of Avira

Under the name of H+BEDV Datentechnik GmbH, Avira was introduced in the market in 1986. But, the software company Avira Operations GmbH & Co. KG was founded in 2006. It is a business in the field of security solutions providing software for phones, laptops, tablets, etc. It is a family business that has a market in various parts of the world.

Avira’s first and main headquarters are based on Tettnang, Germany. Apart from the country’s headquarters, the other offices are located in the USA, China, Romania, and the Netherlands. The free antivirus software of Avira became very famous and by 2012 it reached 100 million customers. Apart from software products, Avira also delivers cloud-based products. Well, every software company needs to update itself with time and it’s the motto of their sector.

In 2016, Avira become the sixth-largest antivirus in terms of market share and until today it maintains consistency. Some of the biggest partners of the company are IBM, Microsoft, Synergy Systems, Novell, etc. Avira is also famous for doing charitable work and promote art and culture apart from the growing technology.

Avira is the recipient of many prestigious awards for its brilliant and high-quality products. In 2008, it received a “gold” status from Anti-Malware Test Lab. In February 2010, Avira achieved a 99% score on a “malware on-demand” detection test conducted by AV-TEST. In 2016, it was named AV Product of the Year by AV-Comparatives.

To date, Avira experienced three major cyber attacks. In 2005, the company experienced a buffer overflow vulnerability followed by a compromise in 2010 in the Avira Management Console. And, in 2013, it suffered 0-day vulnerability that allowed attackers to get into the customer’s PC.

Main products of Avira

The main products that Avira provides for the Windows OS are Avira Free Antivirus, Avira Antivirus Pro, Avira System Speedup Free (Pro as well), Avira Internet Security Suite, Avira Ultimate Protection Suite, and Avira Rescue System. For OS X Avira provides Avira Free Mac Security that can be installed and run only in OS X 10.9 and above. Avira has free mobile security for iOS that can run on both iPhone and iPad. For Android, both free and pro versions of the software are available. The company also has Avira Phantom VPN for private networks.

Avira in the world of IoT

Entering into the world of IoT, Avira came up with a whole new approach to safeguard your house with Avira SafeThings. It is a software application that can be installed on routers and it will keep the connected devices safe in your home. With the Avira SafeThings customers don’t have to buy yet a new hardware and install it. With the use of AI and ML, Avira designed such a unique software to ensure safety at home.

Avira SafeThings performs four basic activities namely, Watches, Thinks, Acts, and Shares. First, it will tag all the connected devices at your home followed by learning their normal behavior using AI. Now, if they detect anything suspicious it will simply shut down that activity showing the user what is taking place in the network.

Acquisition of Avira by Investcorp

In April 2020, Bahrain based company Investcorp acquired Avira Holding for $180 million. By this time, Avira had over 500 million customers in various sectors including finances, online identity, malware detection, protecting private data, etc. Investcorp has a rich experience in working in the field of security and IoT and the company’s managing director said that it would help Avira expand and reach the targeted growth faster. Avira also has plans to expand in the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) segment.