Security distributor e92plus has finally signed a replacement anti-virus vendor a year after losing its contract with Trend Micro (CRN, 2 July).

Germany-based Avira hopes to grab two per cent of the UK anti-virus market within the next 12 months, after appointing e92plus as its first UK distributor.

Mukesh Gupta, managing director of e92plus, said that he had held talks with several anti-virus vendors ­ including Sophos ­ before settling on Avira.

“We did not just want to jump into anybody to replace our existing business. We wanted to find the right partner and the right product technically,” he said.

Tony Anscombe, director of consumer products at Avira, said: “If you look at all the independent tests, we are always number one or two. We need to take this to the channel and tell them to stop selling on price and instead on the fact that we block more viruses than anyone else.”

“If we took two per cent of the market in the first 12 months that would be a significant number.”