VirusBuster Ltd. was a Hungarian

IT security Computer security, cybersecurity (cyber security), or information technology security (IT security) is the protection of computer systems and networks from attack by malicious actors that may result in unauthorized information disclosure, the ...

software vendor. The fully Hungarian owned company developed

software Software is a set of computer programs and associated software documentation, documentation and data (computing), data. This is in contrast to Computer hardware, hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work. ...

under the brand name "VirusBuster" for the Hungarian and international market to protect users' computers from malware programs and other IT security threats. In August 2012, VirusBuster Ltd. announced the discontinuation of its antivirus products. After VirusBuster was shut down, the entire development and malware analysis team joined Sophos.

History

The legal and trade predecessor of the firm began to develop antiviral products at the end of the 1980s. Its released the software named "Virsec" came out at the same time, when other well known vendors appeared with their similar solutions. In 1992 Virsec was renamed to "VirusBuster". At the later official formation of the firm, this name became the name of the company as well. In 1997 the official foundation of VirusBuster Ltd took place. In the next years, the company produced mainly anti-viral products for the Hungarian market, primarily for the governmental sector. 2000 was the year of the international opening. VirusBuster's products began to participate in international test from the summer of this year, and the firm itself began to build up international partnerships also in 2000. Between 2000 and 2003 VirusBuster steadily extended its portfolio. The developments manifested in the increasing number of protected platforms and systems, also in new layered security products to target new threats, and in the management system for the firm's security products. With all of these achievements, the company could offer effective security solutions for every organizational customers. In 2001 The Australian Leprechaun licensed VirusBuster's antiviral technology to integrate it into its own security products. Between 2003 and 2006 VirusBuster strengthened its Eastern European and worldwide market positions. The antiviral engine of the company became an independent product, and thus it was integrated into several other firms' security solutions. These were the years, when VirusBuster appeared on the American market. In August 2012, Agnitum, the PC security expert and manufacturer of the Outpost range of security products, had announced the acquisition of antivirus technology and infrastructure from its long-term partner VirusBuster. In October 2012, the owner of the VirusBuster has made the decision that the products and the services were going to be removed from the market. The entire development and malware analysis team joined Sophos.

Products

VirusBuster provided customized, virus protection solutions for all customer groups. Furthermore VirusBuster Internet Security Suite provided full IT protection for its home users. The company's security products covered all mainstream operating systems, including both workstation and server platforms.
According to independent IT-professionals and international test labs the products of the company were pretty good solutions, in the aspects of both speed and efficiency. Some security analysts said VirusBuster's user interface is rather too "traditional", but according to others this almost "old fashioned"

GUI The GUI ( "UI" by itself is still usually pronounced . or ), graphical user interface, is a form of user interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices through graphical icons and audio indicator such as primary notation, inste ...

provides better transparency and easier manageability. According to general opinions, the products of the company covered all important business platforms and protected from every IT security threat.

Technology licenses

Aside from the retail solutions for different market segments, it was also important for the company that their antiviral engine became an independent product. Several international companies were licensing VirusBuster's technology, and integrated it into their own products. (

Outpost Security Suite Outpost may refer to: Places * Outpost (military), a detachment of troops stationed at a distance from the main force or formation, usually at a station in a remote or sparsely populated location * Border outpost, an outpost maintained by a so ...

Kaspersky Kaspersky Lab (; Russian: Лаборатория Касперского, tr. ''Laboratoriya Kasperskogo'') is a Russian multinational cybersecurity and anti-virus provider headquartered in Moscow, Russia, and operated by a holding company in th ...

, Proteatools)

International partnerships{{Source?, date=January 2023

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washin ...

* HP * Sun Microsystems * Novell

Name misuse

In the beginning of 2008 VirusBuster's security researchers found a computer malware package which was using the name of the company to trick users. The worm was spreading itself as an attachment of infected e-mails under the name "virusbuster.personal.v3.20.regfile.by.arcade.exe". The analysis and the classification of the virus was not a very difficult task, since the worm was a variant of the well known and rather old "Bagle" malware family. This was not the first example of name misuse; VirusBurst was a fake anti-spyware program in 2006. Its name was very similar to VirusBusters' name – probably accidentally, but in this case the similarity was perfect.
Also in 2008 the '' 29A'' virus-writing group announced its shut down, and one of the prominent members of the 29A team had also used the 'VirusBuster' alias.

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