Avast Antivirus and Cybersecurity Software

Avast is one of the world's most widely recognized names in cybersecurity and consumer digital safety. Originally developed in Prague, Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic) by Eduard Kučera and Pavel Baudiš in 1988 under the cooperative ALWIL Software, Avast pioneered the freemium distribution model for digital security software. Over the decades, it grew into a global powerhouse, protecting hundreds of millions of users across the globe, including widespread adoption in Norway for both personal and enterprise computing.

In 2022, Avast was acquired in a major merger transaction by NortonLifeLock Inc., which subsequently rebranded as Gen Digital Inc. Headquartered in Tempe, Arizona, and Prague, Czech Republic, Gen Digital is a publicly traded American multinational software giant that also oversees other prominent security brands such as Norton, LifeLock, AVG, and Avira.

As a software product, Avast does not have traditional physical manufacturing, but its core codebases, cloud threat-detection engines, and user applications are engineered and maintained across engineering facilities globally, primarily in the Czech Republic and the United States.