AV-Comparatives: AV-Comparatives Explains the Implications of Takeovers in the IT-Sec

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AV-Comparatives Explains the Implications of Takeovers in the IT-Security Industry

In recent years, there have been many acquisitions of security software manufacturers. This article considers the implications of such takeovers, with regard to cybersecurity, consumer choice and other factors. AV-Comparatives notes that their test results can help uncover any technical changes resulting from AV-vendor acquisitions.
 
McAfee’s consumer division has just been purchased by investors. NortonLifeLock, which produces the Norton Security consumer AV product, is taking over Avast. This means that the Norton, BullGuard, Avast, AVG, and Avira security products will be under the same ownership.

Are takeovers of antivirus vendors a good or a bad thing?

When one antivirus vendor buys another, it is arguable that combining the best protection technologies of the two products can bring about an improvement in security. Balanced against this is the fact that the market will take a step in the direction of a monopoly when  a competing vendor disappears. As a general rule, monopolies are a bad thing and competition is a good thing. Where a monopoly exists, there is no consumer choice, and the vendor has no incentive to improve its product or service, or to lower its prices. In the specific case of antivirus programs, a monopoly would be especially bad, because malware authors would only have one type of defence to bypass in order to infect computers. However, it’s also true that investment in an antivirus vendor will allow that company to improve its research and development facilities, thus improving its product’s protection against malware.

So, the answer to the question above is that it depends very much on what the new owner does with the acquired company and its existing product. When an AV vendor is bought up, there are various possible scenarios.

Purchased company and product continue exactly as before

A possible example of this is the acquisition of Avira by NortonLifeLock. At the time of writing (October 2021), Avira continues to exist as a separate company, producing the same product under the Avira name. In AV-Comparatives’ Consumer Main Test Series of 2021, test results for Norton and Avira products have been clearly different from each other. It is therefore evident that two products have not been combined so far, although it is unclear what will happen in the future.

Purchased company and product cease to exist

The takeover of PC Tools by Symantec in 2008 is an example of this. Whilst PC Tools products continued for some time after the takeover, Symantec eventually abandoned the brand and products completely. It is not known which elements, if any, of PC Tools technology were incorporated into Symantec. In any event, there was a reduction in consumer choice when PC Tools disappeared from the market.
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