When it comes to antivirus software on computers, there’s a good chance that you might have heard of Norton and Avast. Both of the companies make some of the most popular consumer antivirus software on the market, but it looks like they’ll soon be joining forces to form a larger cyber security firm.In an announcement, NortonLifeLock (the former consumer side of Symantec) has revealed that they will be merging with Avast where they will acquire all of Avast’s shares in a deal worth more than $8 billion. This resulting merger will take Avast’s experience and focus on user privacy and combine that with NortonLifeLock’s experience in identity, especially in this day and age where ransomware attacks seem to be on the rise.
According to Vincent Pilette, Chief Executive Officer of NortonLifeLock, “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. With this combination, we can strengthen our Cyber Safety platform and make it available to more than 500 million users. We will also have the ability to further accelerate innovation to transform Cyber Safety.”
It is unclear what will become of Norton or Avast’s antivirus software and if they might be impacted by this merger, so we’ll have to wait and see.
Filed in . Read more about Avast, Malware and Security. Source: businesswire