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Avast
Avast Software s.r.o. is a subsidiary of Gen Digital. It is a Czech multinational cybersecurity software company headquartered in Prague, Czech Republic, that researches and develops computer security software, machine learning, and artificial intelligence. Avast had more than 435 million monthly active users and the second largest market share among anti-malware application vendors worldwide as of April 2020. As of 2025, parent company Gen Digital had approximately 4,000 employees worldwide.
Avast was founded by Pavel Baudiš and Eduard Kučera in 1988 as a cooperative, initially known as Alwil Software. It later rebranded to Avast, and in July 2016, acquired competitor AVG Technologies. At the time, AVG was the third-ranked antivirus product. It was dual-listed on the Prague Stock Exchange and on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index until it was acquired by NortonLifeLock in September 2022.
In July 2021, NortonLifeLock, an American cybersecurity company, announced that it was in talks to merge with Avast Software. In August 2021, Avast's board of directors agreed to an offer of US$8 billion. After the merger was completed in September 2022, the combined company became known as Gen Digital.
The company's main product is Avast Antivirus, along with tools such as the Avast Secure Browser and the Avast SecureLine VPN.
Avast produces Avast Online Security, which is its main extension, but it also has extensions like Avast SafePrice and Avast Passwords.
Avast was founded by Eduard Kučera and Pavel Baudiš in 1988. The founders met each other at the Research Institute for Mathematical Machines in Czechoslovakia. They studied math and computer science, because the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia would require them to join the communist party to study physics. At the institute, Pavel Baudiš discovered the Vienna virus on a floppy disk and developed the first program to remove it. Afterwards, he asked Eduard Kučera to join him in cofounding Avast as a cooperative. The cooperative was originally called Alwil Software and only the software was named Avast.
The cooperative was changed to a joint partnership in 1991, two years after the velvet revolution caused a regime change in Czechoslovakia. The new regime severed ties with the Soviet Union and reverted the country's economic system to a market economy. In 1995, Avast employee Ondřej Vlček wrote the first antivirus program for the Windows 95 operating system. In the 1990s, security researchers at the Virus Bulletin, an IT security testing organization, gave the Avast software an award in every category tested, increasing the popularity of the software. However, by the late 1990s, the company was struggling financially. Alwil Software rebuffed acquisition offers by McAfee, who was licensing the Avast antivirus engine.
By 2001, Alwil Software was experiencing financial difficulties, when it converted to a freemium model, offering a base Avast software product at no cost. As a result of the freemium model, the number of users of the software grew to one million by 2004 and 20 million by 2006. Former Symantec executive Vince Steckler was appointed CEO of Avast in 2009. In 2010, Alwil Software changed its name to Avast, adopting the name of the software, and raised $100 million in venture capital investments. The following December, Avast filed for an initial public offering, but withdrew its application the following July, citing changes in market conditions. In 2012, Avast fired its outsourced tech support service iYogi, after it was discovered that iYogi was using misleading sales tactics to persuade customers to buy unnecessary services. By 2013, Avast had 200 million users in 38 countries and had been translated into 43 languages. At the time, the company had 350 employees.
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Avast
Avast Software s.r.o. is a subsidiary of Gen Digital. It is a Czech multinational cybersecurity software company headquartered in Prague, Czech Republic, that researches and develops computer security software, machine learning, and artificial intelligence. Avast had more than 435 million monthly active users and the second largest market share among anti-malware application vendors worldwide as of April 2020. As of 2025, parent company Gen Digital had approximately 4,000 employees worldwide.
Avast was founded by Pavel Baudiš and Eduard Kučera in 1988 as a cooperative, initially known as Alwil Software. It later rebranded to Avast, and in July 2016, acquired competitor AVG Technologies. At the time, AVG was the third-ranked antivirus product. It was dual-listed on the Prague Stock Exchange and on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index until it was acquired by NortonLifeLock in September 2022.
In July 2021, NortonLifeLock, an American cybersecurity company, announced that it was in talks to merge with Avast Software. In August 2021, Avast's board of directors agreed to an offer of US$8 billion. After the merger was completed in September 2022, the combined company became known as Gen Digital.
The company's main product is Avast Antivirus, along with tools such as the Avast Secure Browser and the Avast SecureLine VPN.
Avast produces Avast Online Security, which is its main extension, but it also has extensions like Avast SafePrice and Avast Passwords.
Avast was founded by Eduard Kučera and Pavel Baudiš in 1988. The founders met each other at the Research Institute for Mathematical Machines in Czechoslovakia. They studied math and computer science, because the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia would require them to join the communist party to study physics. At the institute, Pavel Baudiš discovered the Vienna virus on a floppy disk and developed the first program to remove it. Afterwards, he asked Eduard Kučera to join him in cofounding Avast as a cooperative. The cooperative was originally called Alwil Software and only the software was named Avast.
The cooperative was changed to a joint partnership in 1991, two years after the velvet revolution caused a regime change in Czechoslovakia. The new regime severed ties with the Soviet Union and reverted the country's economic system to a market economy. In 1995, Avast employee Ondřej Vlček wrote the first antivirus program for the Windows 95 operating system. In the 1990s, security researchers at the Virus Bulletin, an IT security testing organization, gave the Avast software an award in every category tested, increasing the popularity of the software. However, by the late 1990s, the company was struggling financially. Alwil Software rebuffed acquisition offers by McAfee, who was licensing the Avast antivirus engine.
By 2001, Alwil Software was experiencing financial difficulties, when it converted to a freemium model, offering a base Avast software product at no cost. As a result of the freemium model, the number of users of the software grew to one million by 2004 and 20 million by 2006. Former Symantec executive Vince Steckler was appointed CEO of Avast in 2009. In 2010, Alwil Software changed its name to Avast, adopting the name of the software, and raised $100 million in venture capital investments. The following December, Avast filed for an initial public offering, but withdrew its application the following July, citing changes in market conditions. In 2012, Avast fired its outsourced tech support service iYogi, after it was discovered that iYogi was using misleading sales tactics to persuade customers to buy unnecessary services. By 2013, Avast had 200 million users in 38 countries and had been translated into 43 languages. At the time, the company had 350 employees.