VirusBuster
Encyclopedia
VirusBuster Ltd. is one of the few Hungarian
it-security
software vendors. The fully Hungarian owned company develops products – under the same brand name: "VirusBuster" – for the Hungarian and international market to protect users' computers from malware programs and various other IT-security threats.
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 participating of 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. 2001 was the first year when an international foreigner company – the Australian Leprechaun – licensed VirusBuster's antiviral technology to integrate it into its own security products.
Between 2003 and 2006 VirusBuster strengthened its East 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.
According to independent IT-professionals and international test labs the products of company are pretty good solutions, in the aspects of both speed and efficiency. Some security analysts say VirusBuster's user interface is rather too "traditional", but according to others this almost "old fashioned" GUI
provides better transparency and easier manageability. According to general opinions the products of the company cover all important business platforms and protect from every IT-security threats.
This was not the first example of name misuse; VirusBurst was a fake antispyware program in 2006. Its name was very similar to VirusBusters' name – probably accidentally, but in another 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 also used the 'VirusBuster' alias.
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
it-security
Security
Security is the degree of protection against danger, damage, loss, and crime. Security as a form of protection are structures and processes that provide or improve security as a condition. The Institute for Security and Open Methodologies in the OSSTMM 3 defines security as "a form of protection...
software vendors. The fully Hungarian owned company develops products – under the same brand name: "VirusBuster" – for the Hungarian and international market to protect users' computers from malware programs and various other IT-security threats.
History
The legal and trade predecessor of the firm began to develop antiviral products at the end of the 1980's. Its 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 participating of 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. 2001 was the first year when an international foreigner company – the Australian Leprechaun – licensed VirusBuster's antiviral technology to integrate it into its own security products.
Between 2003 and 2006 VirusBuster strengthened its East 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.
Products
VirusBuster provides customized, multi-level virus protection solutions for all – individual, home and all size organizational – customer groups, furthermore VirusBuster Internet Security Suite provides full IT-protection for home users. The company's security products cover all important operating systems, including both the workstation and server platforms.According to independent IT-professionals and international test labs the products of company are pretty good solutions, in the aspects of both speed and efficiency. Some security analysts say VirusBuster's user interface is rather too "traditional", but according to others this almost "old fashioned" GUI
Gui
Gui or guee is a generic term to refer to grilled dishes in Korean cuisine. These most commonly have meat or fish as their primary ingredient, but may in some cases also comprise grilled vegetables or other vegetarian ingredients. The term derives from the verb, "gupda" in Korean, which literally...
provides better transparency and easier manageability. According to general opinions the products of the company cover all important business platforms and protect from every IT-security threats.
Technology licences
Beside the retail solutions for different market segments its also important for the company, that its antiviral engine became an independent product. Several international companies are licensing VirusBuster's technology, and integrate it into their own products. Some of them are:- Outpost Security Suite Pro and Outpost Antivirus Pro
- Australian Project (ZondexGuard Desktop anti-virus protection)
- Balabit (Zorp Virus filtering in Application Layer Firewall)
- Kaspersky Hosted Security: mailDefend, FreeBSD platform
- Leprechaun (VirusBUSTER II Desktop antivirus protection)
- MicrosoftMicrosoftMicrosoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
(Microsoft Forefront Security for Exchange Server, Microsoft Forefront Security for SharePoint) - Proteatools (Protea AntiVirus Tools for Lotus Domino)
International partnerships
Beside the companies mentioned above, the most important strategic partners of the company in different international collaboration projects are:- MicrosoftMicrosoftMicrosoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
- HP
- Sun MicrosystemsSun MicrosystemsSun Microsystems, Inc. was a company that sold :computers, computer components, :computer software, and :information technology services. Sun was founded on February 24, 1982...
- NovellNovellNovell, Inc. is a multinational software and services company. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Attachmate Group. It specializes in network operating systems, such as Novell NetWare; systems management solutions, such as Novell ZENworks; and collaboration solutions, such as Novell Groupwise...
Name misuse
In the beginning of 2008 VirusBuster's security researchers found a computer malware, 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 antispyware program in 2006. Its name was very similar to VirusBusters' name – probably accidentally, but in another 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 also used the 'VirusBuster' alias.