Emsisoft

Emsisoft is an anti-malware and cybersecurity software and consulting company founded in Austria in 2003 by Christian Mairoll.[5][6] The company makes anti-malware software and decryption tools used by companies and individuals to help them recover computer files encrypted in ransomware attacks.[7][8] It also tracks and generates studies on ransomware attacks.[9][10]

Mairoll, who serves as CEO, relocated to rural New Zealand in 2014,[11] moving Emsisoft’s headquarters to the country, while its employees across Europe, Asia and the United States remained remote.[12][5]

In 2019, Emsisoft donated decryption tools to Europol's No More Ransom project.[13] The company’s decryption tools were also used to help resolve the Kaseya VSA ransomware attack,[14] DarkSide and BlackMatter ransomware attacks against dozens of companies across the U.S., Europe and Britain in 2021.[15][16]

Ireland’s National Cyber Security Centre used Emsisoft’s decryption tools in May 2021 to help the country’s health service department recover from a ransomware attack.[17]

The three versions of Emsisoft's anti-malware software are called Anti-Malware Home, Business Security and Enterprise Security.[18] Emsisoft technology is said to have outscored competitors Kaspersky Lab and Norton AntiVirus because, according to CEO Christian Mairoll, the virtual company can recruit the best people around the world.[19][20] In 2006 Emsisoft discovered Ransom32, the first JavaScript ransomware.[21]

In early 2021 Emsisoft suffered a system breach. The cause of the breach was due to a configuration error which led to the release of a database containing log records generated by Emsisoft products and services to unauthorized third parties.[22] After detecting the attack, Emsisoft implemented security mechanisms, including disconnecting the compromised system and investigated the incident using forensic analysis. Customers were notified of the breach and Emsisoft issued a public apology for the incident.[23]