Private company

Avira

Logo: Avira Operations GmbH & Co. KG., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons4

German computer security software company

Avira Operations GmbH & Co. KG is a German multinational computer security software company mainly known for its Avira Free Security antivirus software. Although founded in 2006, the Avira antivirus application has been under active development since 1986 through its predecessor company H+BEDV Datentechnik GmbH. Since 2021, Avira has been owned by American software company NortonLifeLock (now Gen Digital), which also operates Norton, Avast and AVG.2 It was founded by Tjark Auerbach.1 It employed 459 people in 2017.1 Its revenue was €68.8 million in 2017.1 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 20, 2026.

Overview

1986Founded1
  • Industrycomputer security, software industry1
  • HeadquartersTettnang1
  • Founded inTettnang1
  • Websitewww.avira.com
  • Legal formprivately held company1
  • Kind of organizationLimited partnership1
  • LEI5299004BSY5M96XVAB053
  • StatusInactive3
  • LEI statusRetired3
  • Registered addressKaplaneiweg 1, 88069 Tettnang, Germany3
  • Registered withLocal Court Ulm, HRA 7218783

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D-BW-Tettnang - AVIRA
Photo: ANKAWÜ, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons6

Avira Operations GmbH & Co. KG is a German multinational computer security software company mainly known for its Avira Free Security antivirus software. Although founded in 2006, the Avira antivirus application has been under active development since 1986 through its predecessor company H+BEDV Datentechnik GmbH. Since 2021, Avira has been owned by American software company NortonLifeLock (now Gen Digital), which also operates Norton, Avast and AVG. It was previously owned by investment firm Investcorp.2

Corporate structure

Avira is part of a group headed by Gen Digital. 34 entities, 11 countries on record. Switch between the flow chart and the network, and select any entity to see its details.

Built from parent and subsidiary links from GLEIF, the Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (CC0); subsidiaries listed in Exhibit 21 of annual reports filed with the SEC; subsidiaries, stakes and holdings from Wikidata (CC0). Each entity in the chart links to its source.

The story

Founded by Tjark Auerbach in 1986, in Tettnang.1

Leadership

Who has led Avira, and when. Pick a name to see everywhere that person has worked.

Products and brands

  • Avira
  • software

Listed on Wikidata.1

Technology

Virus definition

Avira periodically "cleans out" its virus definition files, replacing specific signatures with generic ones for a general increase in performance and scanning speed. A 15 MB database clean-out was made on 27 October 2008, causing problems to the users of the Free edition because of its large size and Avira's slow Free edition servers. Avira responded by reducing the size of the individual update files, delivering less data in each update. Nowadays there are 32 smaller definition files that are updated regularly in order to avoid peaks in the download of the updates.

Its file-by-file scanning feature has jokingly been titled "Luke Filewalker" by the developers, as a reference to the Star Wars media franchise character "Luke Skywalker".

Advanced heuristic

Avira products contain heuristics that proactively uncover unknown malware, before a special virus signature to combat the damaging element has been created and before a virus guard update has been sent.

Heuristic virus detection involves extensive analysis and investigation of the affected codes for functions typical of malware. If the code being scanned exhibits these characteristic features it is reported as being suspicious, although not necessarily malware; the user decides whether to act on or ignore the warning.

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ProActiv

The ProActiv component uses rule sets developed by the Avira Malware Research Center to identify suspicious behavior. The rule sets are supplied by Avira databases. ProActiv sends information on suspicious programs to the Avira databases for logging.

Firewall

Avira removed its own firewall technology in 2014, with protection supplied instead by Windows Firewall (Windows 7 and after), because Windows 8, and later the Microsoft Certification Program, forces developers to use interfaces introduced in Windows Vista.

Protection Cloud

Avira Protection Cloud (APC) was first introduced in version 2013. It uses information available via the Internet (cloud computing) to improve detection and affect system performance less. This technology was implemented in all paid 2013 products.

APC was initially only used during a manual quick system scan; later it was extended to real-time protection.

System requirements

Windows: operating system Windows 7, 8/8.1, 10, 11; processor speed 1.6 GHz; requires 256 MB of RAM; hard disk memory 2 GB.

Mac: operating system MacOS 10.15 (Catalina) or higher; 500 MB free hard disk space

Products

Windows

Avira offers the following security products and tools for Microsoft Windows:

Avira Free Security: The free edition antivirus/anti-spyware, for non-commercial use, with promotional pop-ups.

Avira Internet Security: The premium edition antivirus/anti-spyware.

Avira Prime: A bundle of Avira's tools.

MacOS

Avira Free Mac Security for Mac: Runs on MacOS 10.9 and above.

Android and iOS

Avira offers the following security applications for mobile devices running Android and iOS:

Avira Antivirus Security for Android: Free application for Android, runs on versions 2.2 and above.

Avira Antivirus Security Pro for Android: Premium edition for Android, runs on versions 2.2 and above. Available as an upgrade from within the free application, it provides additional safe browsing, hourly update and free tech support.

Avira Mobile Security for iOS: Free edition for iOS devices, such as iPhone and iPad.

Other products

Avira Phantom VPN: Avira's virtual private network software for Android, iOS, macOS and Windows.

Avira Prime: In April 2017 Avira launched a single-user, multi-device subscription-based product designed to provide a complete set of all Avira products available for the duration of the license along with premium support.

Avira Prime is compatible with Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android operating systems and related devices and is available to consumers in 5- and 25-device editions, dubbed "Avira Prime" and "Avira Prime Unlimited" respectively.

Subscriptions are in 30-day and 1-year increments.

Discontinued platforms

Avira formerly offered free antivirus software for Unix and Linux. It was discontinued in 2013, although updates were supplied until June 2016.

From Wikipedia’s article on Avira, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5

Employees over time

  • 20174591
  • 20164741

Revenue over time

As stated on Wikidata, in the currency reported.

Revenue

  • 201768.8M EUR1

Net income

  • 20171.6M EUR1

Timeline

  1. 2021Acquired Acquired by Gen Digital1
  2. 2015Renamed Name changed to Avira Holding GmbH & Co. KG1
  3. 2011Renamed Name changed to Avira Holding GmbH1
  4. 2006Renamed Name changed to Avira GmbH1
  5. 1986Founded Founded in Tettnang1

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

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