Avira Acquires SocialShield

Top-Rated Social Monitoring Service to Be Incorporated into Avira’s Free Security Products

San Bruno, California and Tettnang, Germany --- March 29, 2012 – Security expert Avira announced today that it has acquired SocialShield®, the top-rated parental monitoring service for keeping children and teens safe while using social networks.

Avira will incorporate SocialShield’s social network monitoring technology into Avira’s free security product portfolio.

“It is Avira’s mission that our users feel free to make new friends, share pictures, and conduct business on the Web without worries or concerns about their safety,” said Travis Witteveen, COO Markets & Operations of Avira. “Avira is broadening our security focus from safe-guarding computers to now protecting the people who use them, and that requires us to look beyond viruses and worms and Trojans. The acquisition of SocialShield not only brings child safety technology into Avira’s portfolio, but it also enhances our knowledge of social networking security and our awareness of the risks within the ‘cloud’,” said Sascha Beyer, COO Products & Technology of Avira.

SocialShield scans, analyzes and alerts parents to suspicious activity on social networks like Facebook, Twitter, Formspring, MySpace, Google+ and others. The service has won numerous technology industry endorsements as well as two Congressional Recognition awards for its role in online child safety.

“We are thrilled to become a part of Avira,” said George Garrick, President and CEO of SocialShield. “Avira has an exciting and highly complementary existing product line and future roadmap that merges well with ours, and there is also a great fit of corporate culture and vision. With Avira’s existing user footprint, this merger will rapidly accelerate SocialShield’s product leadership as well as give us an entre into many new countries”.

Boilerplate:

SocialShield® is the leading Social Network monitoring service, helping parents to keep their kids safe on social networks. SocialShield has won numerous industry awards for its best of breed product which is comprehensive yet easy-to-use; its patent-pending technology alerts parents of questionable activity on their child's social networks so they can feel comfortable about who their children interact with online, what photos and conversations are being posted by their friends, and what content they are being exposed to. SocialShield empowers parents with the information they need to extend their parenting practices from the physical to the Social Network world.