Gen Digital Inc. is a multinational software company co-headquartered in Tempe, Arizona and Prague, Czech Republic. The company provides cybersecurity software and services. Gen is a Fortune 500 company and a member of the S&P 500 stock-market index. The company also has development centers in Pune, Chennai and Bangalore. Its portfolio includes Norton, Avast, LifeLock, Avira, AVG, ReputationDefender, and CCleaner.
ESET NOD32 Antivirus, commonly known as NOD32, is an antivirus software package made by the Slovak company ESET. ESET NOD32 Antivirus is sold in two editions, Home Edition and Business Edition. The Business Edition packages add ESET Remote Administrator allowing for server deployment and management, mirroring of threat signature database updates and the ability to install on Microsoft Windows Server operating systems.
Norton AntiVirus is an anti-virus or anti-malware software product founded by Peter Norton, developed and distributed by Symantec since 1990 as part of its Norton family of computer security products. It uses signatures and heuristics to identify viruses. Other features included in it are e-mail spam filtering and phishing protection.
WinFixer was a family of scareware rogue security programs developed by Winsoftware which claimed to repair computer system problems on Microsoft Windows computers if a user purchased the full version of the software. The software was mainly installed without the user's consent. McAfee claimed that "the primary function of the free version appears to be to alarm the user into paying for registration, at least partially based on false or erroneous detections." The program prompted the user to purchase a paid copy of the program.
McAfee VirusScan is an antivirus software created and maintained by McAfee. Originally marketed as a standalone product, it has been bundled with McAfee LiveSafe, McAfee AntiVirus Plus, McAfee Total Protection and McAfee Gamer Security since 2010. McAfee LiveSafe is antivirus protection that defends against viruses, online threats, and ransomware with online and offline protection integrates antivirus, firewall and anti-spyware/anti-ransomware capabilities.
In 2006, British telecom company BSkyB started offering Sky Broadband customers a branded version of VirusScan for free upon broadband modem installation.
Security and Maintenance is a component of the Windows NT family of operating systems that monitors the security and maintenance status of the computer. Its monitoring criteria includes optimal operation of antivirus software, personal firewall, as well as the working status of Backup and Restore, Network Access Protection (NAP), User Account Control (UAC), Windows Error Reporting (WER), and Windows Update. It notifies the user of any problem with the monitored criteria, such as when an antivirus program is not up-to-date or is offline.
Kaspersky Anti-Virus is a proprietary antivirus program developed by Kaspersky Lab. It is designed to protect users from malware and is primarily designed for computers running Microsoft Windows and macOS, although a version for Linux is available for business consumers.
PC Tools', formerly known as WinGuides.com, was a software company acquired by Symantec in 2008; the new owner eventually discontinued the PC Tools name. Company headquarters were in Australia, with offices in Luxembourg, the United States, United Kingdom, Ireland, and Ukraine. The company had previously developed and distributed security and optimization software for the Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows platforms.
Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP) is a suite of utilities for Microsoft Windows customers who have subscribed to Microsoft Software Assurance program. It aims at bringing easier manageability and monitoring of enterprise desktops, emergency recovery, desktop virtualization and application virtualization.
VirusTotal is a website created by the Spanish security company Hispasec Sistemas. Launched in June 2004, it was acquired by Google in September 2012. The company's ownership switched in January 2018 to Chronicle, a subsidiary of Google.
AVG Technologies B.V. is a brand of cybersecurity, privacy, performance and utility software applications for desktop computers and mobile devices developed by Avast, a part of Gen Digital. AVG was a cybersecurity software company founded in 1991 and it merged into Avast following an acquisition in 2017. It typically offers freeware, earning revenues from advertisers and from users that upgrade to paid versions for access to more features.
Malwarebytes is anti-malware software for Microsoft Windows, macOS, ChromeOS, Android, and iOS that finds and removes malware. Made by Malwarebytes Corporation, it was first released in January 2006. This is available in a free version, which scans for and removes malware when started manually, and a paid version, which additionally provides scheduled scans, real-time protection and a flash-memory scanner.
Malwarebytes Inc. is an American Internet security company that specializes in protecting home computers, smartphones, and companies from malware and other threats. It has offices in Santa Clara, California; Clearwater, Florida; Tallinn, Estonia; Bastia Umbra, Italy; and Cork, Ireland.
Avira Operations GmbH & Co. KG is a German multinational computer security software company mainly known for its Avira Free Security antivirus software. Although founded in 2006, the Avira antivirus application has been under active development since 1986 through its predecessor company H+BEDV Datentechnik GmbH. Since 2021, Avira has been owned by American software company NortonLifeLock, which also operates Norton, Avast and AVG. It was previously owned by investment firm Investcorp.
MacKeeper is a cleanup utility for macOS. MacKeeper was developed by ZeoBIT, later acquired by Kromtech, and is currently owned by Clario Tech.
PCKeeper is advertised as an optimization services package featuring a set of software utilities for Windows OS owned by Essentware S.A.. It includes 2 separate products for Windows: PCKeeper Live and PCKeeper Antivirus.
A potentially unwanted program (PUP) or potentially unwanted application (PUA) is software that a user may perceive as unwanted or unnecessary. It is used as a subjective tagging criterion by security and parental control products. Such software may use an implementation that can compromise privacy or weaken the computer's security. Companies often bundle a wanted program download with a wrapper application and may offer to install an unwanted application, and in some cases without providing a clear opt-out method. Antivirus companies define the software bundled as potentially unwanted programs which can include software that displays intrusive advertising (adware), or tracks the user's Internet usage to sell information to advertisers (spyware), injects its own advertising into web pages that a user looks at, or uses premium SMS services to rack up charges for the user. A growing number of open-source software projects have expressed dismay at third-party websites wrapping their downloads with unwanted bundles, without the project's knowledge or consent. Nearly every third-party free download site bundles their downloads with potentially unwanted software. The practice is widely considered unethical because it violates the security interests of users without their informed consent. Some unwanted software bundles install a root certificate on a user's device, which allows hackers to intercept private data such as banking details, without a browser giving security warnings. The United States Department of Homeland Security has advised removing an insecure root certificate, because they make computers vulnerable to serious cyberattacks. Software developers and security experts recommend that people always download the latest version from the official project website, or a trusted package manager or app store.
Norton, formerly known as Norton by Symantec, is a brand of Gen Digital co-headquartered in Tempe, Arizona and Prague, Czech Republic. Norton originally provided utility software for DOS, and currently offers a variety of products and services related to digital security, identity protection, and online privacy and utilities.
Kromtech Alliance Corp. is a Security software organization and IT investment and development company that develops software and provides customer support services for Apple's Mac OS. Kromtech Alliance Corp previously owned and distributed MacKeeper, Memory Keeper, and the anti-theft application Track My Mac.
SpyHunter is an anti-spyware computer program for the Microsoft Windows operating system. It is designed to remove malware, such as trojan horses, computer worms, rootkits, and other malicious software.
