DURHAM, NC – G Data Software Inc., a German security software company that says it created the first commercial antivirus product, is opening US headquarters in a building on the former Nortel Meridian campus. Initially employing four people, the operation intends to staff up to nine by the end of the year and be north of 50 in three years if growth goes as planned.

Ed Johnson, senior vice president of the company’s North American operations tells us that “North Carolina is a good fit for us. We wanted to be on the East Coast and near a technology hub. It also did not hurt any that NC Gov. Bev Perdue made a trip to Germany last spring to invite German firms to locate in the state,” Johnson says.

Johnson was previously chief information officer at LGS Innovations, COO at Blue Wolf Technologies Inc., and CIO at the NC Department of Justice.  He says G Data is essentially opening its US operations in start-up mode.

The company is also opening a call center in Greensboro operated by Dynamic Quest, which does outsourced technology services. “Their team has been to Germany for training and knows our software as well as we do,” says Johnson.

While G Data Software’s product is sold in more than 80 countries and in 24 languages, it realized, says Johnson, that it could never be considered a global company without establishing a foothold in the United States.

The company’s antivirus and security software is ranked number three in the world and has an enviable 99.999 percent effectiveness rating. “It’s consistently as high or higher than the best in the world,” Johnson notes.

It achieves that high degree of effectiveness via a double-scan engine.

Trying to stay ahead of cyber criminals and their malware is a roller coaster ride for antivirus programs, explains Johnson. “When an AV company issues updates, its effectiveness goes high. Then the bad guys get their number and it goes down. That’s when you use one scanning engine. We use two. When one is down, the other has its back. It’s like having a double defensive line against the Cowboys – if the first guy doesn’t get a guy coming up the middle, the second one is going to.”

The G Data products also update every hour rather than once or twice a day. Even so, Johnson says, “The system resources it requires are so low that you won’t even notice it’s there.”

Johnson admits that grabbing market share from the other established players in the field, including Norton, Mcafee, and others, is no easy task.

However, it can boast that AV-Comparatives, a non-profit organization that publishes independent Anti-Virus software tests, has awarded G Data InternetSecurity 2011 the Gold seal of approval in two categories for its outstanding protection technologies. AV-C said, Over the past 12 months, AV Comparatives tested 20 security solutions for their effectiveness in protecting against known and unknown threats. G Data Internet Security 2011 consistently impressed with its results, outpacing all other solutions in its breadth and scope of coverage against malware.”

It’s products sell for $29.99 to $39.00, the same price range or lower than competitors.

The company, founded in Germany in 1985 officially opens its new offices February 14. — Allan Maurer

Email TJS Editor Allan Maurer: Allan at TechJournal South dot com.