Acquisition of digital identity and authentication provider will expand Avast’s Identity product and services portfolio as part of its digital freedom vision

PRAGUE, March 24, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Avast (LSE:AVST), a global leader in digital security and privacy, today announced the acquisition of SecureKey Technologies, a global provider of digital identity and authentication solutions headquartered in Canada. SecureKey’s next generation privacy-enhancing services are focused on simplifying access to online services while giving control back to consumers by ensuring the information they share with others is only ever with their explicit consent.

Identity and Authentication and reusable digital identity services are expected to grow to $266bn by 2027 with a CAGR of 68.9%, according to Liminal (formerly OWI), the digital identity specialists, with the private sector to capture the majority of this growth. SecureKey’s mission has been to simplify consumer access to secure online services and applications, such as government, healthcare, and financial account opening, utilizing secure digital versions of the credentials they already have and trust.

“We envisage a global and reusable digital identity framework which will underpin a new trust layer for the internet,” said Ondrej Vlcek, CEO, Avast. “It’s clear that digital identity is the critical enabler for many digital services and SecureKey’s success reflects the growing demand for this from consumers. SecureKey is highly complementary to Avast’s prior work in Identity and together we will take our offer to the next level, accelerating innovation and working to establish a user-focused, global approach that aligns user, business, and government propositions. We are committed to developing offerings that will be fully inclusive for everyone, regardless of their own circumstances.”

Services developed by SecureKey include those currently known as Verified.Me, a first-of-its-kind, distributed digital identity verification network, and Government Sign-In by Verified.Me for convenient login to hundreds of government online services and applications. Both services are provided by Interac Corp. under an exclusive Canadian licensing arrangement. SecureKey’s digital identity solutions enable over 200 million secure digital ID transactions per year globally. SecureKey’s continued investments will support emerging digital identity standards and solutions, including DIDs (Decentralized Identifiers) and Verifiable Credentials, to further empower digital trust networks and ecosystems enabling true user centric control.

“SecureKey’s vision has been to revolutionize the way consumers and organizations approach identity and the sharing of personal information in the digital age. By working closely with governments, financial institutions and businesses, we have an established track record of trusted and mature identity networks that provide consumers with the secure digital capabilities they deserve,” said Greg Wolfond, CEO, SecureKey. “Combining forces with Avast enables us to innovate further and faster with our technology as we together look to build a more trustworthy future for all internet users.”

“The maturity of the SecureKey hybrid federation, bank ID, and decentralized technology suite and history of strong operational delivery in Canada for discerning financial services and government customers & partners positions Avast for geographic expansion. As the European community is investing in public-private sector digital identity infrastructure in 2022 and beyond, we see Avast well positioned as a collaborative provider of digital trust services for people, digital businesses and government,” said Charles Walton, General Manager and SVP Identity, Avast. “Success for us is where digital identity becomes simple, user-centric and portable, and can enable a more trustworthy digital experience and deeper online engagement benefiting both people and business.”

The deal is expected to close in early April 2022 with the general availability of SecureKey’s products following in Q2.

About Avast:
Avast (LSE:AVST), a FTSE 100 company, is a global leader in digital security and privacy, headquartered in Prague, Czech Republic. With over 435 million users online, Avast offers products under the Avast and AVG brands that protect people from threats on the internet and the evolving IoT threat landscape. The company’s threat detection network is among the most advanced in the world, using machine learning and artificial intelligence technologies to detect and stop threats in real time. Avast digital security products for Mobile, PC or Mac are top-ranked and certified by VB100, AV-Comparatives, AV-Test, SE Labs and others. Avast is a member of Coalition Against Stalkerware, No More Ransom, and the Internet Watch Foundation. Visit: www.avast.com.

Contact: Stephanie Kane – pr@avast.com

Keep in touch with Avast:

• For more on this announcement, read our blog – https://blog.avast.com/avast_aquires_securekey
• For more information on identity, visit https://www.avast.com/digital-trust
• For security and privacy insights, visit the Avast blog: https://blog.avast.com/ 
• For in-depth technical analysis of threats, visit the Avast Decoded blog: https://decoded.avast.io/
• For handy guides, advice and tips, visit Avast Academy: https://www.avast.com/c-academy
• For more information about Avast visit: https://www.avast.com/en-gb/about and https://www.avast.com/company-faqs 
• Follow us on Twitter: @Avast
• Join our LinkedIn community: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avast
• Visit our Facebook group: www.facebook.com/avast

About SecureKey Technologies
SecureKey is a leading identity and authentication provider that simplifies consumer access to online services and applications. SecureKey enables a next generation privacy-enhancing identity and authentication network for connecting people to online services using digital credentials they already have and trust. For more information, please visit www.securekey.com.

For SecureKey media enquiries:
Didier Serra – didier.serra@securekey.com
Maggie Hall – maggie.hall@kaiserpartners.com

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SOURCE Avast Software, Inc.