Prague-based Avast is set to acquire decentralized, self-sovereign identity applications pioneer Evernym. Financial details of the acquisition were not disclosed.
With cybercriminal activities at an all-time high, there’s not a month that goes by where a major hack or security breach goes unreported. It’s exactly this trend that prompted NortonLifeLock to snap up Avast this past in an $8.6 billion deal, and the addition of Evernym signals yet further security features added to the lineup.
Evernym, which was founded in 2013, has played an instrumental role in the development of verifiable credentials and decentralized identifiers, has created more than a few of its own leading related open source projects, and is the driving force behind global initiatives that include the International Air Transport Association’s Travel Pass, and founded or co-founded among others the Sovrin Foundation, the Trust Over IP Foundation, the Decentralized Identity Foundation, the Good Health Pass Collaborative, and the cheqd network.
On the acquisition, Avast CEO Ondrej Vlcek explains, “Consumer trust in the online world has been critically compromised. Over 60% of the world’s population has internet access today yet we don’t have adequate provisions in place for these people to prove who they are online. The result is that identity theft, online fraud and account takeovers are growing rapidly, as does digital tracking and surveillance. Our vision for digital freedom is to enable people to manage and retain control over their personal data so that they can interact and transact safely, privately and with confidence. Adding Evernym’s groundbreaking, self-sovereign identity technology to our portfolio enables us to address this area and is a huge step forward in the realization of our decentralized, portable model.”
The purchase is expected to close in mid-December, with Evernym’s products to be integrated into the Avast lineup in 2022.
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