Avast + AVG have a huge opportunity ahead

by | Jul 8, 2016

There is consolidation happening in the Anti-virus space. After the ForcePoint-Websense-Raytheon consolidation and also the Symantec–Bluecoat & FireEye – iSight mergers,  it is Avast and AVG who are merging. That will leave a few big names who will either become Security behemoths or are absorbed by big IT giants like CA and IBM.

By a coincidence, both Avast and AVG are founded in the Czech Republic, and both focus on providing online security to consumers and small businesses. They have been rivals for long especially in Europe. And both have a large base of consumers, with their software on user desktops and mobile phones.

Avast will pay $25 a share in cash for all of AVG’s outstanding ordinary shares, a 33 per cent premium to AVG’s closing price on Wednesday (July 6).

Avast has more than 230m customers worldwide but has remained privately owned. An investment from CVC Capital Partners in February 2014 valued the company at $1bn.

Avast and AVG have a huge opportunity ahead in securing devices connected to the Internet of Things. Gartner has estimated there will be 50 billion connected things by 2020. That’s 5.5 million new things connected to the Internet every day.

I met Vincent Steckler, the CEO of Avast in Europe, last year at CeBIT. And he was also a speaker at CeBIT India 2015.

Hackers are now turning their attention to networks that control infrastructure (such as those used in  manufacturing, road traffic and airports). Terrorists are also getting tech-savvy and may eventually target those networks. And with the connected home soon becoming a reality, the last thing you’d want is to be locked out of your house because someone hacked into your home security system.

I have also seen a demo of a how a security company hacked into a Tesla and remotely shut it down on the highway.

So there’s a lot of opportunity for security companies.

 

 

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Brian Pereira
Brian Pereira
Brian Pereira is an Indian journalist and editor based in Mumbai. He founded Digital Creed in 2015. A technology buff, former computer instructor, and software developer, Brian has 29 years of journalism experience (since 1994). Brian is the former Editor of CHIP India, InformationWeek India and CISO Mag. He has served India's leading newspaper groups: The Times of India and The Indian Express. Presently, he serves the Information Security Media Group, as Sr. Director, Editorial. You'll find his most current work on CIO Inc. During his career he wrote (and continues to write) 5000+ technology articles. He conducted more than 450 industry interviews. Brian writes on aviation, drones, cybersecurity, tech startups, cloud, data center, AI/ML/Gen AI, IoT, Blockchain etc. He achieved certifications from the EC-Council (Certified Secure Computer User) and from IBM (Basics of Cloud Computing). Apart from those, he has successfully completed many courses on Content Marketing and Business Writing. He recently achieved a Certificate in Cybersecurity (CC) from the international certification body ISC2. Follow Brian on Twitter (@creed_digital) and LinkedIn. Email Brian at: [email protected]
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