MELBOURNE and AMSTERDAM, 13 January 2009 ~ AVG Technologies, a global anti-virus and Internet security software provider with over 80 million users in 167 countries, today announced the acquisition of Sana Security, a leading developer in identity theft prevention software. Sana~s forward-looking technology in the industry comes from its behaviour-based security software that proactively protects against threats in a similar way to the human immune system.
The transaction marks another successful milestone as AVG continues its corporate growth strategy to continually improve Internet security coverage for individuals and small businesses and expand its global footprint. Headquartered in Redwood City, California, Sana also provides AVG with its first offices in Silicon Valley.
As the threat landscape evolves with more sophisticated online attacks to steal personal information, Sana~s technology complements AVG~s existing portfolio by delivering continuous threat detection and automatic removal of malicious software proactively. Tens of thousands of new computer threats ~ including increasingly complex bots, rootkits, spyware, and Trojan horses ~ are released every day; Sana~s technology helps computer users to simplify and streamline protection against identity theft.
~AVG~s acquisition of Sana is one of the most exciting accomplishments in identity theft prevention. Sana~s unique behavioural software, combined with AVG~s existing security technology, will provide the most comprehensive online identity protection in the industry, delivering continuous real-time protection. At the same time, AVG will continue to maintain low PC resource utilisation for optimal system performance, a critical requirement both for the individual at home and for the business user,~ said J.R. Smith, CEO of AVG Technologies.
Sana Security~s personnel, together with its research organisation Sana Labs, will be integrated into the AVG organisation and maintain offices in Silicon Valley.
Sana~s products use advanced behavioural technology to protect users~ personal information~including logins, passwords and account information~and other critical data stored on the computer. By mimicking the approach used by the human immune system to repel attackers, the software prevents hackers from capturing and transmitting sensitive information away from the user~s machine, compromising their online security.
Sana~s technology ~learns~ normal application behaviour by observing the way those applications interact with each other (their ~code paths~). Vulnerabilities in the form of software bugs, user configuration errors, malware infections, and other forms of attack force applications down unexpected code paths. The behavioural technology recognises this misdirection and eliminates the threats before they can affect the user~s data.
About AVG Technologies
AVG is a global security solutions leader protecting more than 80 million consumers and small business computer users in 167 countries from the ever-growing incidence of web threats, viruses, spam, cyber-scams, and hackers. Headquartered in Amsterdam, AVG has nearly two decades of experience in combating cybercrime and one of the most advanced laboratories for detecting, pre-empting and combating web-borne threats around the world. Its free online, downloadable software model allows entry-level users to gain basic protection and then to easily and inexpensively upgrade to greater levels of safety and security in both single and multi-user environments as their needs change and grow. Nearly 6,000 resellers, partners and distributors team with AVG globally including Amazon.com, CNET, Cisco, Ingram Micro, Play.com, Wal-Mart, and Yahoo!. More information is available at www.avg.com.