London, U.K. and Emeryville, California, August 30, 2022 – Avast (LSE: AVST), a global leader in digital security and privacy, has joined the Trust Over IP Foundation (ToIP), the Decentralized Identity Foundation (DIF), the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), and the FIDO Alliance. These community-driven open standards organizations are developing the foundations for decentralized digital trust infrastructure. Avast will be a key contributor to these standards initiatives and also act as a Steering member of ToIP and DIF. Avast representatives currently hold leadership positions in several ToIP, DIF, and W3C working groups developing cryptographic libraries, decentralized identifiers, secure protocols, and governance frameworks for digital trust ecosystems.

Avast’s digital trust solutions will provide more convenient, empowered, and private digital interactions for people, and better security and engagement outcomes for businesses. To accelerate this vision, Avast acquired Evernym in late 2021, and more recently acquired SecureKey in early 2022. Both companies were founding members of DIF and member organizations of W3C, with Evernym also a founding member of ToIP.

“The days of walled gardens and platform-centric identity services are over,” said Drummond Reed, Director, Digital Trust Services, at Avast. “The future is decentralized: everyone will be able to control their data, and share it where and with whom they choose, privately, securely, and on their terms. This vision forms the basis of our digital trust services at Avast. We are excited about being part of communities of like-minded individuals and businesses that are collectively laying the foundations for a trust-based digital environment that will rebuild faith in the internet.”

Avast is committed to being an active participant in shaping the digital trust space, to create a more trusted future with digital solutions that work for everyone. Collaboration is key to a more equitable future, and these four organizations represent hundreds of organizations working together toward a safer, fairer, and more user-centric web.

“The Trust Over IP Foundation believes everyone deserves access to a safer web, where all of our interactions are rooted in privacy, security, and trust,” commented ToIP executive director John Jordan. “We look forward to continuing to work with Avast in pursuit of this vision as we tackle solving the toughest technical and human-centric problems in digital trust.”

DIF executive director Rouven Heck added, “Many of Avast's employees have been long-standing contributors at DIF and essential players in the broader self-sovereign identity community for many years. We look forward to welcoming Avast as an important partner and collaborator in our ongoing work toward a secure, scalable, and interoperable identity infrastructure."

“We are pleased to welcome Avast as a Sponsor Member of the FIDO Alliance. We look forward to their contributions to aid in our mission: to change the nature of authentication with open standards for simpler, stronger authentication to reduce reliance on passwords,” said Christina Hulka, executive director and COO of the FIDO Alliance.