<s>
Bitdefender	B-Application
is	O
a	O
Romanian	O
cybersecurity	O
technology	O
company	O
headquartered	O
in	O
Bucharest	O
,	O
Romania	O
,	O
with	O
offices	O
in	O
the	O
United	O
States	O
,	O
Europe	O
,	O
Australia	O
and	O
the	O
Middle	O
East	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
company	O
was	O
founded	O
in	O
2001	O
by	O
the	O
current	O
CEO	B-Application
and	O
main	O
shareholder	O
,	O
Florin	O
Talpeș	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Bitdefender	B-Application
develops	O
and	O
delivers	O
cybersecurity	O
products	O
and	O
services	O
,	O
including	O
endpoint	O
protection	O
,	O
cloud	O
and	O
managed	O
security	O
,	O
antivirus	B-Application
software	I-Application
and	O
IoT	O
security	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Bitdefender	B-Application
products	O
are	O
distributed	O
through	O
partners	O
in	O
over	O
150	O
countries	O
and	O
the	O
US	O
market	O
is	O
estimated	O
to	O
generate	O
more	O
than	O
40%	O
of	O
its	O
revenues	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
of	O
August	O
2021	O
,	O
Bitdefender	B-Application
was	O
ranked	O
5th	O
globally	O
among	O
Microsoft	O
Windows	O
anti-malware	B-Application
application	O
vendors	O
by	O
market	O
scores	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Bitdefender	B-Application
software	O
was	O
originally	O
developed	O
by	O
SOFTWIN	B-Application
and	O
sold	O
as	O
AVX	O
(	O
Antivirus	B-Application
Expert	O
)	O
from	O
1996	O
until	O
2001	O
,	O
when	O
its	O
name	O
was	O
changed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2007	O
,	O
SOFTWIN	B-Application
spun	O
off	O
Bitdefender	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
1990	O
:	O
Creation	O
of	O
Softwin	B-Application
,	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
first	O
IT	O
start-ups	O
in	O
post-communist	O
Romania	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
2001	O
:	O
The	O
Bitdefender	B-Application
subsidiary	O
is	O
created	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
AVX	O
solution	O
is	O
rebranded	O
under	O
the	O
Bitdefender	B-Application
name	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
2007	O
:	O
Bitdefender	B-Application
becomes	O
a	O
separate	O
business	O
entity	O
with	O
external	O
capital	O
entry	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
2011	O
:	O
Bitdefender	B-Application
launches	O
enterprise	O
range	O
and	O
virtualization	O
security	O
products	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
2015	O
:	O
Bitdefender	B-Application
creates	O
a	O
new	O
consumer	O
product	O
category	O
with	O
Bitdefender	B-Application
BOX	O
and	O
IoT	O
security	O
services	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
2017	O
:	O
Bitdefender	B-Application
makes	O
its	O
first	O
major	O
acquisition	O
by	O
acquiring	O
French	O
partner	O
Profil	O
Technology	O
Source	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
British	O
fund	O
Vitruvian	O
buys	O
a	O
30%	O
stake	O
in	O
the	O
Bitdefender	B-Application
,	O
valuing	O
Bitdefender	B-Application
at	O
more	O
than	O
$600	O
million	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
2018	O
:	O
Bitdefender	B-Application
creates	O
a	O
new	O
subsidiary	O
in	O
Australia	O
through	O
the	O
acquisition	O
of	O
assets	O
from	O
business	O
partner	O
SMS	O
eTech	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Bitdefender	B-Application
acquires	O
behavioral	O
and	O
network	O
security	O
analytics	O
company	O
RedSocks	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
2019	O
:	O
Bitdefender	B-Application
opens	O
its	O
own	O
Security	O
Operations	O
Center	O
in	O
San	O
Antonio	O
,	O
Texas	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
2021	O
:	O
Bitdefender	B-Application
unveils	O
its	O
extended	O
detection	O
and	O
response	O
(	O
XDR	O
)	O
platform	O
,	O
offering	O
business	O
customers	O
further	O
visibility	O
and	O
incident	O
context	O
during	O
investigations	O
to	O
accelerate	O
threat	O
validation	O
,	O
response	O
actions	O
and	O
remediation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
2022	O
:	O
Bitdefender	B-Application
signed	O
a	O
multi-year	O
partnership	O
deal	O
with	O
Scuderia	O
Ferrari	O
on	O
September	O
28	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Bitdefender	B-Application
develops	O
cybersecurity	O
solutions	O
for	O
businesses	O
and	O
consumers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Its	O
flagship	O
product	O
is	O
Bitdefender	B-Application
Antivirus	B-Application
which	O
protects	O
against	O
viruses	O
,	O
spyware	O
,	O
malware	O
,	O
phishing	O
attacks	O
,	O
ransomware	O
,	O
and	O
other	O
threats	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Bitdefender	B-Application
advises	O
Europol	O
's	O
European	O
Cybercrime	O
Centre	O
(	O
EC3	O
)	O
in	O
supporting	O
investigations	O
into	O
criminal	O
activity	O
in	O
cyberspace	O
,	O
sharing	O
relevant	O
data	O
and	O
knowledge	O
about	O
disruption	O
,	O
prevention	O
,	O
investigation	O
and	O
prosecution	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Bitdefender	B-Application
is	O
also	O
part	O
of	O
the	O
Cybersecurity	O
Tech	O
Accord	O
for	O
a	O
safer	O
online	O
world	O
,	O
a	O
collaboration	O
among	O
global	O
technology	O
companies	O
committed	O
to	O
protecting	O
their	O
customers	O
and	O
users	O
and	O
helping	O
them	O
defend	O
against	O
malicious	O
threats	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Bitdefender	B-Application
has	O
won	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
awards	O
from	O
AV-Comparatives	O
,	O
an	O
anti-virus	B-Application
assessment	O
firm	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
March	O
20	O
,	O
2010	O
,	O
computers	O
running	O
Bitdefender	B-Application
under	O
64-bit	O
versions	O
of	O
Windows	O
were	O
affected	O
by	O
a	O
malfunctioning	O
update	O
that	O
classified	O
every	O
executable	O
program	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
dll	O
files	O
as	O
infected	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Bitdefender	B-Application
representatives	O
announced	O
the	O
removal	O
of	O
the	O
faulty	O
update	O
and	O
a	O
workaround	O
for	O
the	O
users	O
affected	O
,	O
except	O
for	O
those	O
using	O
the	O
2008	O
version	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2021	O
,	O
Bitdefender	B-Application
was	O
accused	O
of	O
self-promotion	O
when	O
releasing	O
and	O
publicly	O
announcing	O
a	O
decryptor	O
to	O
the	O
detriment	O
of	O
actual	O
victims	O
with	O
regards	O
to	O
DarkSide	O
,	O
a	O
hacking	O
group	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Security	O
researchers	O
noticed	O
and	O
were	O
quietly	O
already	O
helping	O
victims	O
of	O
the	B-Application
software	I-Application
,	O
but	O
with	O
no	O
public	O
notice	O
,	O
making	O
it	O
so	O
that	O
the	O
attackers	O
would	O
only	O
see	O
an	O
inexplicable	O
decrease	O
in	O
ransom	O
payments	O
that	O
could	O
be	O
written	O
off	O
as	O
chance	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
about	O
the	O
same	O
time	O
,	O
Bitdefender	B-Application
researchers	O
developed	O
a	O
decryptor	O
and	O
issued	O
a	O
blog	O
post	O
in	O
January	O
2021	O
describing	O
the	O
flaw	O
and	O
offering	O
the	O
decryptor	O
as	O
a	O
free	O
download	O
,	O
in	O
order	O
to	O
make	O
as	O
many	O
organizations	O
as	O
possible	O
aware	O
of	O
its	O
existence	O
to	O
reduce	O
the	O
impact	O
of	O
Darkside	O
ransomware	O
attacks	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
was	O
criticized	O
in	O
an	O
article	O
in	O
the	O
MIT	O
Technology	O
Review	O
:	O
claiming	O
,	O
first	O
,	O
Bitdefender	B-Application
's	O
program	O
was	O
n't	O
even	O
safe	O
-	O
it	O
was	O
flawed	O
and	O
would	O
"	O
damage	O
"	O
files	O
decrypted	O
with	O
it	O
due	O
to	O
bugs	O
within	O
it	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Second	O
,	O
the	O
blog	O
post	O
tipped	O
off	O
DarkSide	O
as	O
to	O
the	O
nature	O
of	O
the	O
flaw	O
;	O
DarkSide	O
promptly	O
patched	O
the	O
bug	O
and	O
sarcastically	O
thanked	O
Bitdefender	B-Application
for	O
pointing	O
it	O
out	O
,	O
then	O
went	O
on	O
with	O
their	O
campaign	O
of	O
extortion	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
notable	O
incident	O
that	O
took	O
place	O
after	O
Bitdefender	B-Application
's	O
public	O
disclosure	O
was	O
the	O
Colonial	O
Pipeline	O
cyberattack	O
in	O
May	O
2021	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
the	O
security	O
researchers	O
who	O
had	O
been	O
using	O
the	O
flaw	O
before	O
acknowledge	O
that	O
it	O
's	O
probable	O
DarkSide	O
would	O
eventually	O
have	O
noticed	O
and	O
fixed	O
the	O
issue	O
,	O
they	O
still	O
criticized	O
Bitdefender	B-Application
for	O
using	O
the	O
bug	O
merely	O
for	O
a	O
brief	O
burst	O
of	O
publicity	O
,	O
rather	O
than	O
in	O
the	O
way	O
that	O
would	O
most	O
help	O
victims	O
of	O
the	O
scheme	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Bitdefender	B-Application
has	O
defended	O
their	O
actions	O
on	O
their	O
blog	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
September	O
2021	O
,	O
Bitdefender	B-Application
published	O
a	O
universal	O
decryptor	O
utility	O
that	O
will	O
help	O
past	O
victims	O
of	O
the	O
REvil	O
ransomware	O
recover	O
their	O
encrypted	O
files	O
.	O
</s>
