Who are the Players in the Antivirus Industry?

Everyone in the US heard of Symantec, Mcafee, Computer Associates and Trend Micro, leading antivirus providers. These companies have a leading market position in the US. Microsoft has also been an important player in this industry. In 2003, Microsoft bought GeCad Software intellectual property and technology, based in Bucharest, Romania. They also purchased Pelican Software, which is computer-based for safety, and malware, spam and phishing software for the Giant Company.

A great deal of criticism focused on whether Microsoft is dominant on the antiviral industry by simply including its technology without charge with its operating systems. This method is similar in other areas, such as word processing and internet browsers.

There are of course a number of antivirus companies on this market as well. Many companies with a large market presence in other countries are becoming increasingly known. These sellers include the Czech Republic's GriSoft, the United Kingdom's Sophos, Spain's Panda Software, Romanian-language SoftWin, Norman, Finland's F-Secure, Poland's Arcabit, Hungary's VirusBuster and South Korea's AhnLab.

It is not apparent where the sector is headed and in this fast shifting context, everyone is confronted. The effort to detect and remedy viruses is astonishing. Malicious programs are becoming more complex and increasing in number. Many companies may be without the resources to match those who are genuinely dedicated to causing disasters. Some virus firms get hundreds of fresh samples every day! Moreover, the new viruses become more "smart" since they disseminate swiftly and often hide themselves and are intelligent enough to roam throughout a system by changing their names to make it difficult to remove them.