Serious Discussion NortonLifeLock to Acquire Avira

[F 4 E]

For 10 years I did support for Symantec, but once Broadcom acquired them and let some good Symantec staff go as well as letting Marketing take over and annoy the crap out of so many customers, I jumped ship and now use Eset.

I also have licenses for Kaspersky and F-Secure, but it's very unlikely I'd go back to Norton.

 

[klepto]

,The name Nortonlifelock is bad enough to induce cringe. I haven't installed Norton on any pc since I used Thunderbyte in DOS.

 

[fabiobr]

Wow!

Great for both, especially for Norton.

 

[Jaspion]

Ok, am I the only one who hopes they keep Luke Filewalker?

 

[fabiobr]

What does that mean for F-Secure and BullGuard both of whom use Avira signatures..
Also what does that mean for Norton and Avira

Probably they will keep the name, like AVG/Avast.

The Avira name is strong to simply end it up.

 

[fabiobr]

AVG and Avast were made for each other. Avast was trying to develop behaviour-based protection, which was... don't wanna bash, mediocre...at it's best.
AVG already had that. Avast didn't have the LinkScanner (back then), so AVG provided.
AVG didn't have effective definitions, which Avast had.
So the combo created a strong product.

I am unaware as to what Norton can take from Avira, but off the top of my head I see the following possibilities:

1. Intelligence will be shared between the 2 companies about every newly-discovered threats. This will most probably start immediately after acquisition.
2. Certain heuristics, as well as definitions will be exchanged between the two products. This will probably take few months after the acquisition.
3. Avira has a cloud-detonation system, which will most likely be improved and then utilised by Norton. This will probably take few months as well, most likely will be finished H2 2021.
4. Norton is currently offering a tune-up app, licensed by a third party. This will be most likely discontinued and the Avira Tune-UP will be offered instead.
5. I am unsure to what will happen with the VPNs. Most likely Phantom VPN will replace the current Norton VPN.

These are my guesses over what will happen with the 2 products. Most likely Avira will use the Norton UI, just rebranded. We'll se next year.

I think Norton software consumers are different from Avira freemium approach, one completes the other.

 

[oldschool]

Ok, am I the only one who hopes they keep Luke Filewalker?

Yes, from what I've read here and elsewhere. There is little love lost for poor old Luke.

 

[oldschool]

..Avira lifelock..??

... or Luke LifeLoc?

 

[Cortex]

Just a small comment on the red umbrella - : I REALLY HATE IT - That's all

 

[ForgottenSeer 58943]

Remember, there are many products using Avira now, that switched off from Bit Defender for various reasons. Bullguard switched to Avira signatures for their 2020 version, dumping Bit Defender.

Norton had a really good go of it lately up until the later part of this year when their detection's seemed to drop and the product actually got a bit heavier. Overall Norton was actually pretty good. Ultimately, if we use mergers and acquisitions of the past as our guidance, we don't need to be oracles to see this is bad news for Avira and consumers in general.

Also remember, this places Avira, a German AV under the jurisdiction of the USA, which is a no-go for a lot of folks around the world. Avira was actually pretty popular overseas for people not wanting to use US based antivirus products and they actually had pretty significant penetration in middle eastern countries. At one time in the past the Avira CEO started he would move the company elsewhere rather than compromise his company policies regarding intelligence backdoors and spying.

Of the few people I know using Avira, they're looking elsewhere now. Of the people I know using Avira engine products, they are getting concerned about where this is going, and how those companies (like F-Secure, Bullguard, etc) are looking to license from with this change.

 

[James246]

Remember, there are many products using Avira now, that switched off from Bit Defender for various reasons. Bullguard switched to Avira signatures for their 2020 version, dumping Bit Defender.

Norton had a really good go of it lately up until the later part of this year when their detection's seemed to drop and the product actually got a bit heavier. Overall Norton was actually pretty good. Ultimately, if we use mergers and acquisitions of the past as our guidance, we don't need to be oracles to see this is bad news for Avira and consumers in general.

Also remember, this places Avira, a German AV under the jurisdiction of the USA, which is a no-go for a lot of folks around the world. Avira was actually pretty popular overseas for people not wanting to use US based antivirus products and they actually had pretty significant penetration in middle eastern countries. At one time in the past the Avira CEO started he would move the company elsewhere rather than compromise his company policies regarding intelligence backdoors and spying.

Of the few people I know using Avira, they're looking elsewhere now. Of the people I know using Avira engine products, they are getting concerned about where this is going, and how those companies (like F-Secure, Bullguard, etc) are looking to license from with this change.

I also think this merger may not be the best for consumers, though I guess it is possible that they may optically at least release products with separate identities but under the hood will have equal and improved capabilities similar to the Avast / AVG situation. It may also be possible that the "Avira" side of the business continues to offer services to Bullguard, F-Secure and Heimdal (Thor) after all these will be useful revenue streams.
We shall see what transpires, but overall I suspect this may simply be a contraction of choice for the consumer, which was always likely to eventually happen when Microsoft started a few years ago to improve its inbuilt protection..

 

[gery79]

Avira was going down .... hopefully they will finally kill it and end the pain of a multitude of consumers who are in vain hoping to be heard

 

[Divine_Barakah]

Bullguard switched to Avira signatures for their 2020 version, dumping Bit Defender.

I think Bullhuard has not ditched Bitdefinder engine, but now they have accompanied it with Avira’s cloud.

 

[Cortex]

Two companies going in directions I dislike join forces - Unlikely to be for me, but who knows?

 

[XLR8R]

I think Bullhuard has not ditched Bitdefinder engine, but now they have accompanied it with Avira’s cloud.

Bullguard uses Avira's SDK hook, line and sinker. They have switched to Avira and dropped BitDefender.

 

[tiktoshi]

Avira - Crunchbase Company Profile & Funding

Avira provides IT-security antivirus software.

www.crunchbase.com

Investcorp sells Avira, nets 200% IRR | Unquote

Investcorp has sold cybersecurity software company Avira to US-based NortonLifeLock for $360m, just eight months after the GP acquired the company for $180m in a primary buyout.,Exits,DACH,Technology ,Germany,Investcorp,Trade sale

www.unquote.com

 

[tiktoshi]

NortonLifeLock - Crunchbase Company Profile & Funding

NortonLifeLock provides security, storage, and systems management solutions that help consumers secure and manage their information.

www.crunchbase.com

 

[tiktoshi]

I'm starting to don't trust the name of protection. Big data for users has been sold to destinations we don't know about.

HCL Technologies acquires NortonLifeLock - 2020-05-29 - Crunchbase Acquisition Profile

HCL Technologies acquires NortonLifeLock on 2020-05-29 for an undisclosed amount

www.crunchbase.com

 

[fabiobr]

And I don't believe that Norton will sell a "free Norton product", I think free products will be only on Avira trademark.

They will let Norton being the "premium" product.

 

[tiktoshi]

Avira will continue to develop technologies
Because BullGuard has recently used Avira solutions, including both engine and cloud
Of course, BullGuard changed the engine. This means that the decision is not random. She had previous news of NortonLifeLock to Acquire Avira
.