G Data CyberDefense AG (until September 2019 ''G Data Software AG'') is a German software company that focuses on

computer security Computer security (also cybersecurity, digital security, or information technology (IT) security) is a subdiscipline within the field of information security. It consists of the protection of computer software, systems and computer network, n ...

. The company was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in

Bochum Bochum (, ; ; ; ) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia. With a population of 372,348 (April 2023), it is the sixth-largest city (after Cologne, Düsseldorf, Dortmund, Essen and Duisburg) in North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous German federa ...

. They are known for being the creators of the world's first

antivirus software Antivirus software (abbreviated to AV software), also known as anti-malware, is a computer program used to prevent, detect, and remove malware. Antivirus software was originally developed to detect and remove computer viruses, hence the name ...

. G Data uses multiple scanning engines; one is developed in-house and the other is the Bitdefender engine. G Data provides several security products that are targeted at home and business markets. The company has a

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company, or daughter company is a company (law), company completely or partially owned or controlled by another company, called the parent company or holding company, which has legal and financial control over the subsidia ...

located in

Newark, Delaware Newark ( )Not as in Newark, New Jersey. is a city in New Castle County, Delaware, United States. It is located west-southwest of Wilmington. According to the 2010 census, the population of the city is 31,454. The University of Delaware is ...

History

Antivirus Programs & Cyber Security (1985–2006)

G Data was founded in Bochum, Germany, in 1985. The company introduced its first computer security product Anti-Virus Kit (AVK) in 1988 for

Atari ST Atari ST is a line of personal computers from Atari Corporation and the successor to the company's Atari 8-bit computers, 8-bit computers. The initial model, the Atari 520ST, had limited release in April–June 1985, and was widely available i ...

. In 1990, this program was given a graphical user interface for MS-DOS for the first time. In 1993, G Data developed the software GeoRoute, the first route planner with intelligent mapping. Beside focus on the security market, G Data also created software for voice recognition (Invox) and speech synthesis (Logox). The antivirus program was continuously developed: in 1995, the first antivirus hardware protection was added, followed by ''CloudSecurity'' in 2005. In November 2000, the company was converted into a joint-stock company, and the company fully focused its portfolio on

. In the 2000s, the company expanded significantly, entering markets in various countries and opening a Japanese branch in Tokyo in 2004.

Cyber Security for Private Users and Companies (2006–present)

In 2007, G Data had around 100 employees. In 2008 and 2009, Brazil and Mexico were added, as well as the USA, Canada, and Russia. In 2009, G Data made around 25 million euros in revenue, and by the summer of 2010, the company had about 300 employees. In 2010, G Data opened a branch in Italy, followed by branches in France, the Netherlands, and Belgium in 2011. By 2015, the company had about 500 employees and its security solutions were available in 90 countries worldwide. Since that year, G Data has been an exclusive launch partner of the Microsoft Cloud in Germany, which has been available in Germany since mid-2016. In September 2015, G Data launched a new messaging app called Secure Chat which used the Signal Protocol. The application was based on a fork of

Signal A signal is both the process and the result of transmission of data over some media accomplished by embedding some variation. Signals are important in multiple subject fields including signal processing, information theory and biology. In ...

and its

source code In computing, source code, or simply code or source, is a plain text computer program written in a programming language. A programmer writes the human readable source code to control the behavior of a computer. Since a computer, at base, only ...

was published under the

GPLv3 The GNU General Public Licenses (GNU GPL or simply GPL) are a series of widely used free software licenses, or ''copyleft'' licenses, that guarantee end users the freedom to run, study, share, or modify the software. The GPL was the first ...

license. G Data discontinued the service in May 2018. In September 2019, the

annual general meeting An annual general meeting (AGM, also known as the annual meeting) is a meeting of the general membership of an organization. These organizations include membership associations and companies with shareholders. These meetings may be required ...

decided to change the name from ''G DATA Software AG'' to ''G DATA CyberDefense AG''. In 2021, G Data received the European Cyber Security Organization seal of quality “Cybersecurity Made in Europe”. G Data is a member of Eurobits and the Federal IT Security Association TeleTrusT. In 2022, G Data was awarded the Comenius EduMedia seal and the eco://award.

References

{{Authority control Computer security software companies Antivirus software Software companies of Germany Information technology companies of Germany Windows security software MacOS security software Android (operating system) software iOS software Companies established in 1985 1985 establishments in West Germany Companies based in Bochum German brands Privately held companies of Germany

History

Antivirus Programs & Cyber Security (1985–2006)

Cyber Security for Private Users and Companies (2006–present)

See also

References