Avira vs Microsoft Defender

2021. Microsoft launches Defender for Business



Microsoft has introduced Microsoft Defender for Business, a new easy-to-use and cost-effective endpoint security solution that's specially built to bring enterprise-grade endpoint security to businesses with up to 300 employees. Defender for Business elevates security from traditional antivirus to next-generation protection, endpoint detection and response, threat and vulnerability management, and more. It offers simplified configuration and management with intelligent, automated investigation and remediation. Defender for Business helps you to protect against cybersecurity threats including malware and ransomware across Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android devices. It's available as a standalone offering costing $3 per user per month.


2020. Norton acquires Avira for $360M



NortonLifeLock announced that it would acquire the German security firm Avira for around $360 million in an all-cash deal. NortonLifeLock came into existence as a standalone company only last year after Symantec’s enterprise security business was acquired by Broadcom for nearly $11 billion. NortonLifeLock is itself today a publicly traded company with a market cap of about $11.5 billion. Avira, meanwhile, was until April of this year a bootstrapped tech business focusing mainly on security software for consumers. Its products include — like Norton itself — anti-virus software. Avira has a customer base of millions, covering about 30 million secured devices and 1.5 million paying customers. Avira has built its business around a freemium model that Norton said it plans to keep.


2020. German security firm Avira has been acquired by Investcorp



Avira, a cybersecurity company based out of Germany that provides antivirus, identity management and other tools both to consumers and as a white-label offering from a number of big tech brands, has been snapped up by Investcorp Technology Partners, the PE division of Investcorp Bank. Investcorp’s plan is to help Avira make acquisitions in a wider security consolidation play. The plan will be to make more acquisitions to expand Avira’s footprint, both in terms of products and especially to grow its geographic footprint: today the company is active in Asia, Europe and to a lesser extent in the US, while Investcorp has a business that also extends deep into the Middle East.


2016. Microsoft released Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection


Windows already ships with built-in antivirus called Windows Defender. Currently, it’s a defensive program that looks at websites and downloads to try and stop you from getting hacked. Unfortunately, in the day and age of social engineering and spear-phishing, antivirus needs to be a little more proactive. The new cloud service Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection is supposed to be that protection for large, company-wide networks. WDATP move the focus from monitoring individual files to the machine’s behaviour as a whole—rather than searching for the actual virus, it keeps an eye on symptoms. If your machine starts connecting to weird ports or executing unusual PowerShell commands—behavior that’s out of the ordinary for the vast majority of users—WDAPT will flag it to administrators, providing an overview of current and past behavior for admins to look at. Microsoft’s also trying to take advantage of the vast Windows install base to kickstart its antivirus program. Millions of suspicious files found on machines worldwide will be run on the cloud, building a giant centralized database of malicious files, but also malicious behavior.