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Avast (stylized as avast!) security software products are developed for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Android and Linux users by AVAST Software s.r.o., a Czech private limited company. Avast was founded in 1988, and is headquartered in Prague, Czech Republic.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title= Contact Us )〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】title= Public Register )〕 It produces antivirus and security programs for personal and commercial use. In January 2015, Avast had 21.4% of the worldwide security vendor market share.〔(【引用サイトリンク】author=OPSWAT )〕 As of March 2015, Avast had 233 million users of its products and services worldwide.〔Mares, Michael. ("Rekordní rok Avastu v číslech. Antivir teď dají zadarmo i firmám" ), ''Forbes'', Prague, 11 March 2015. Retrieved on 23 March 2015.〕 According to a company press release, Avast protects more than 30 percent of the consumer PCs in the world outside of China.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title= Press Center )〕 The software products have a user interface available in 45 languages. Avast has 500 employees; 90 percent of whom work in the Czech Republic. Avast has 13 offices in Prague, Brno, Germany, China, South Korea, Taiwan, and the U.S.〔News Desk. (), ''Prague Post'', Prague, 11 March 2015. Retrieved on 23 March 2015.〕 ==History== After coming across the Vienna virus in 1988, researcher Pavel Baudiš of Prague’s Mathematical Machines Research Institute set to writing a program that would be able to successfully remove it. He then shared the program with his colleague, Eduard Kučera, and later that year the pair started ALWIL Software, which released the first Avast antivirus. Because of restrictions on forming a company in then-Czechoslovakia, ALWIL Software was founded as a cooperative. The Velvet Revolution, however, brought with it the introduction of the free market. In 1991 Baudiš and Kučera were able to register ALWIL Software as a joint-partnership company.〔Swartz, Jon. ("Avast emerged from Communism to shine in security" ), ''USA Today'', Prague, 23 October 2013. Retrieved on 23 March 2015.〕 Current COO and former CTO Ondrej Vlček joined ALWIL in 1995; he had joined the company when he was a student and wrote the company’s first antivirus program for Windows 95.〔Neacsu, Mihai. ("Interview with Avast's COO Ondřej Vlček" ), ''Download3K'', 19 November 2014. Retrieved on 23 March 2015.〕 The following year, Avast antivirus was one of the first three antivirus programs worldwide to win Virus Bulletin’s VB100 awards in all testing categories. In 1997, ALWIL Software licensed the Avast antivirus engine to McAfee for use in its own line of McAfee VirusScan antivirus products.〔Swartz, Jon. ("Avast emerged from Communism to shine in security" ), ''USA Today'', Prague, 23 October 2013. Retrieved on 23 March 2015.〕 Within the next seven years, the company reached the 1 million user mark for its Avast product, following the launch of a free antivirus solution for home (non-commercial) use in 2001. ALWIL partnered with SanDisk in 2005, leading to language localization for all of SanDisk’s markets. In 2006, Avast reached 10 million users by the beginning and ended the year with 20 million; it also swept the SC Awards categories of Best Antivirus, Anti-Malware (European) and Readers’ Choice (USA). The following year, ALWIL Software became a joint-stock company, and the number of registered Avast users reached 40 million, despite the company having just 38 employees. By 2009, there were more than 100 million users 〔Avast, Official Newsletter. ("100 million users" ), Stackler, Dec 10th 2009. Retrieved on 26 May 2015.〕 and 100 employees; Vincent Steckler, formerly of Symantec, also joined ALWIL as CEO that year. ALWIL Software changed its name to AVAST Software in 2010, and Summit Partners invested $100 million for a minority share of the company.〔Wauters, Robin. (), ''TechCrunch'', 23 August 2010 Retrieved on 23 March 2015.〕 Over the next two years, Avast launched its Business Protection line and Avast Free Mobile Security, which became the best-rated security app on Google Play. In 2012, Avast Free Antivirus became the most-downloaded software on Download.com. As of 2013, more than 200 million PCs, Macs and Android device users were protected with Avast programs. AVAST Software acquired the German company Secure.Me〔Fiegerman, Seth. ("Avast Buys Secure.me to Boost Security on Facebook" ), ''Mashable'', 2 May 2013. Retrieved on 23 March 2013.〕 and the U.S.-based start-up Jumpshot〔Calnan, Christopher. ("Software maker Jumpshot acquired by Czech company" ), ''Austin Business Journal'', Austin, 24 September 2013. Retrieved on 23 March 2015.〕 that same year and was awarded "Best Employer 2013" for the Czech Republic in the category of large companies.〔("Best Employers Czech Republic 2013" ), ''Aon Hewitt'', Prague, 14 November 2013. Retrieved on 23 March 2015.〕 This was also the year that the Avast 2014 series, Avast SecureLine VPN, and Avast GrimeFighter were launched. In February 2014, CVC Capital Partners signed a binding agreement for a large-scale investment in Avast. Valuing the company at $1 billion, the investment was set to position CVC alongside Summit Partners and founders Baudiš and Kučera as Avast's shareholders.〔Board, Laura. ("CVC Capital Partners Takes Slice Of Avast" ), ''The Street'', New York, 5 February 2014. Retrieved on 23 March 2015.〕 In July 2014, Avast released data about a study carried out on 20 used Android smartphones in regards to data security, during which it was discovered that Android's factory reset functionality did not delete all of the data from used phones; Avast found that it was able to retrieve 40,000 photos from used smartphones; news of this discovery made international headlines.〔Tufnell, Nicholas. ("Naked selfies extracted from 'factory reset' phones" ), ''BBC'', London, 11 July 2014. Retrieved on 23 March 2015.〕 Avast then created a product called Avast Anti-Theft, which is able to wipe and overwrite all data from a phone. That same month, Avast acquired a Czech-based mobile app company called Inmite, which has developed apps for mobile banking, mobile television, several applications for Google Glass, and a car-buying app for Škoda Auto.〔 By Ruth Reader, Venture Beat. "(Malware buster Avast buys up mobile app maker in move to be mobile friendly )." 24 July 2014. Retrieved 24 July 2014.〕 In October 2014 it was claimed〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Avast Antivirus Was Spying On You with Adware (Until This Week) )〕 that since around December 2013, Avast had included its own shopping recommendation system, SafePrice, in its Online Security browser extension and had enabled it by default. The claims were rebutted〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Avast Antivirus Was Spying On You with Adware (Until This Week) )〕 point-by-point in an Avast Community forum post made by Ondrej Vlcek, Avast's Chief Operating Officer in response to the article. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Avast (software company)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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