Two of the world’s leading security companies, Norton and Avast, are merging, creating one of the biggest giants in computer and mobile security.
The company NortonLifeLock has purchased the shares of Avast with an $8B deal. “This transaction is a huge step forward for consumer cyber safety and will ultimately enable us to achieve our vision to protect and empower people to live their digital lives safely,” said Vincent Pilette, CEO of NortonLifeLock, regarding the merger.
Both Norton antivirus and Avast antivirus are among the most widely used antivirus products in the world, although both companies market many other security products.
It is a division of the Symantec company, which has been developing PC software since 1982. In the 1990s it bought Peter Norton Utilities, a company famous for its antivirus Norton, and has since specialized in the security field. Symantec is now called NortonLifeLock.
In addition to PC and mobile antivirus, the company also markets antimalware, virtual private networks, and the aforementioned Norton Utilities, a series of tools to make PC usage easier.
Avast, on the other hand, is known worldwide for its free antivirus for PCs and mobile phones, although it also offers paid subscriptions, VPNs, anti-tracking, secure browsers, optimizers, and much more.
At the moment we don’t know what will happen to Avast’s free antivirus products, but we assume they will remain the same. NortonLifeLock has not announced whether the two companies will merge completely, or remain independent in terms of marketing.
Norton’s merger with Avast creates a computer security giant with 500 million users.
