Ex-Symantec Exec Named CEO Of Alwil Software

PRESS RELEASE

Prague, Czech Republic, July 8, 2009 — Alwil Software, the developers of avast!—probably the world's most popular antivirus product—today announced Vince Steckler has joined the company as CEO. Previously, Vince served as senior vice president of consumer sales at Symantec, the world's largest producer of security software.

Vince is assuming the leadership of Alwil Software at a time of tremendous growth and opportunity for avast! From its humble roots over 20 years ago, avast! has become one of the world's most trusted products—available in 33 languages and used by over 80 million customers around the globe. As the founders of Alwil Software, Pavel Baudis and Eduard Kucera stated: "It has been 20 years since we founded Alwil Software and never in our wildest imaginations did we believe that our small company in the old Czechoslovakia would produce the most popular anti-virus product in the world. For many years our products and efforts were focused on the Czech market—now 97 percent of our business is international. We are proud that, with the Alwil team, we have built one of the Czech Republic's most visible exports to the rest of the world. But, we decided that to continue our growth and to make the company even more successful, we needed to bring in an experienced global leader. We asked Vince to join our team because he brings this global experience along with the wisdom and strategic insight necessary to continue avast!'s transformation. But, even more importantly, Vince understands why avast! has been so successful and what makes us different from virtually all other security companies."

As Vince stated: "When I saw the avast! product while I was at Symantec, my first reaction was that the product was just too good to be free. Then when I started discussions with Alwil, I realized that this was the key to the success of avast! As a company we truly believe that all internet users deserve the best possible free protection against viruses and spyware. We have an extraordinarily large community and we are committed to providing them the best possible free security for their routine internet usage. And then to provide the extra protection for on-line shopping, banking, or business needs we have some of the world's best premium products. I am proud to join Alwil and will continue to focus our sales, marketing and product initiatives on growing, nurturing and serving our customer community. It is this focus on the community that will drive the company's further success."

About Vince Vince brings 30 years of technology industry experience and accomplishments. Most recently, Vince was senior VP of worldwide consumer sales at Symantec, where he ran the $2 billion, multi-channel international consumer sales organization. Prior to this, Vince served over two years as Symantec's VP for Asia/Pacific and Japan. He was the senior leader for the region and was responsible for all enterprise and consumer business. During his tenure, Vince transformed this region into the most dynamic region for Symantec. Vince joined Symantec in 2000 as VP of Public Sector business, starting Symantec's successful business of serving the U.S. government, state and local governments, health care and education. Prior to joining Symantec, Vince served 20 years at Logicon/Northrop Grumman—starting as a programmer and ending with the building and operation of a $150 million reseller business focused on public sector sales.

Key to Alwil's business, Vince truly knows the international arena. He has run global businesses across the Americas, Europe, and Asia. He is originally from California and Washington, D.C., but has lived in Asia for the last six years. Vince is married with five children. He has two elder daughters—one a university student in Colorado and the other a university student in Sydney, Australia. His step-son attends school in Singapore. He and his Singaporean-born wife have just relocated from Singapore to Prague with their two young children.

Vince is a graduate of the University of California, Irvine, where he earned two B.S. degrees, one in Mathematics and the other in Information and Computer Science.

About Alwil Software Founded in 1989 and headquartered in Prague, Czech Republic, Alwil Software is the maker of avast!—one of the world's leading security software providers with over 80 million registered customers. Alwil develops and markets the award-winning avast! antivirus product line, with a complete suite of products localized in 33 languages serving home users, small businesses and large enterprises. Further details about the company and its products can be found at http://www.avast.com.