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NortonLifeLock is an American software company originally active from 2005 to 2017, and was best known for its eponymous LifeLock
identity theft Identity theft, identity piracy or identity infringement occurs when someone uses another's personal identifying information, like their name, identifying number, or credit card number, without their permission, to commit fraud or other crimes. ...
prevention software, now sold by
Gen Digital Gen Digital Inc. (formerly Symantec Corporation and NortonLifeLock Inc.) is a multinational software company co-headquartered in both Prague, Czech Republic (European Union, EU) and Tempe, Arizona (United States, USA). The company provides comp ...
after the latter acquired LifeLock in 2017. LifeLock's system monitors for identity theft, the use of personal information, and credit score changes. LifeLock was acquired by
computer security Computer security (also cybersecurity, digital security, or information technology (IT) security) is a subdiscipline within the field of information security. It consists of the protection of computer software, systems and computer network, n ...
company Symantec in 2017 for $2.3 billion. After Symantec sold its enterprise division to
Broadcom Broadcom Inc. is an American multinational corporation, multinational designer, developer, manufacturer, and global supplier of a wide range of semiconductor and infrastructure software products. Broadcom's product offerings serve the data cen ...
, the company was renamed from Symantec to NortonLifeLock in November 2019, and Gen Digital Inc. in 2022. During the same year, the company began to offer versions of its
Norton 360 Norton 360 is an "all-in-one" Internet security#Security suites, security suite developed by Gen Digital, formerly Symantec and later NortonLifeLock. The current suite was released in 2019 as a replacement for Norton Security, which had itself re ...
subscription service with LifeLock included.


History

LifeLock was co-founded in 2005 by Robert J. Maynard and Todd Davis. Maynard began his career by founding the Internet Service Provider (ISP) Internet America in the late 1990s. Former LifeLock CEO Davis worked for
Dell Dell Inc. is an American technology company that develops, sells, repairs, and supports personal computers (PCs), Server (computing), servers, data storage devices, network switches, software, computer peripherals including printers and webcam ...
before founding Marketing Champions, an advertising and marketing firm. Maynard resigned from LifeLock in June 2007 after claims that he was a victim of identity theft came under scrutiny. Davis publicly posted his
Social Security number In the United States, a Social Security number (SSN) is a nine-digit number issued to United States nationality law, U.S. citizens, Permanent residence (United States), permanent residents, and temporary (working) residents under section 205(c)(2 ...
as part of a 2007 ad campaign to promote the company's identity theft protection services. However, Davis was a victim of 13 cases of identity theft between 2007 and 2008. Regarding the campaign, Davis said, "We were trying to make the point that ... all it takes is one data breach. The point of that campaign was to take proactive steps to protect your identity." In December 2008, LifeLock entered into an agreement with
TransUnion TransUnion LLC is an American consumer credit reporting agency. TransUnion collects and aggregates information on over one billion individual consumers in over thirty countries including "200 million files profiling nearly every credit-active co ...
, one of the three main credit bureaus, to automate the process of alerting customers of potential unauthorized access via their credit reports. As part of a 2009 settlement with
Experian Experian plc is a multinational corporation, multinational data broker and consumer credit reporting company headquartered in Dublin, Ireland. Experian collects and aggregates information on more than 1 billion people and businesses including ...
related to false fraud alerts allegations, LifeLock set up a service that does not rely on fraud alerts. In March 2012, LifeLock acquired ID Analytics, which operates independently as a wholly owned subsidiary Following LifeLock's initial public offering (IPO) announcement in August 2012, Hilary Schneider joined the company as president. In December 2013, LifeLock acquired
Lemon Wallet Lemon Wallet was a cloud-based digital wallet that allowed users to store digital copies of credit cards, debit cards, reward cards, as well as identification, and other card information. The service was released in July 2011 and the company i ...
, a digital wallet platform, for $42.6 million. In 2015, the FTC obtained a $100 million monetary penalty against LifeLock with $68 million held for class-action refunds to customers in relation to false advertising and failed service delivery allegations. In January 2016, the company announced that Hilary Schneider would replace Todd Davis as CEO. LifeLock was acquired by Symantec for $2.3 billion on February 9, 2017. The company subsequently began to offer its Norton subscription services with LifeLock included.


Funding

The company started with $2 million in seed funding with another $5 million in its Series A funding in 2006 from Bessemer Ventures. LifeLock raised $6 million in its series B funding from
Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers Kleiner Perkins, formerly Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB), is an American venture capital firm which specializes in investing in incubation, early stage and growth companies. Since its founding in 1972, the firm has backed entrepreneur ...
in April 2007. The following January, its Series C Funding raised $25 million, led by Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. In August 2009, a series D funding round raised $40 million for the company. In March 2013, LifeLock raised $100 million in new equity funding from Bessemer Ventures Partners, Goldman, Sachs & Co., Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Symantec Corporation, and River Street Management. The funds were used towards the acquisition of ID Analytics, an identity theft risk prediction technology. LifeLock announced plans to take its identity theft protection business public and filed for an IPO worth up to $175 million on August 28, 2012. The company was listed on the
New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is the List of stock exchanges, largest stock excha ...
starting October 3, 2012, trading under the symbol LOCK. LifeLock filed a form with the Securities and Exchange Commission to voluntarily deregister its common stock in 2017 post its acquisition by Symantec for $2.3 billion. Following Symantec's name change in November 2019, Symantec's stock symbol became NLOK.


Controversies

Robert J. Maynard, Jr., a co-founder of the company, resigned in June 2007 following a controversial story published in ''
Phoenix New Times ''Phoenix New Times'' is a free digital and print media company based in Phoenix, Arizona. ''Phoenix'' ''New Times'' publishes daily online coverage of local news, restaurants, music, arts, cannabis, as well as longform narrative journalism. A ...
'' about his past. The story involved
bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the deb ...
, FTC investigation, and
identity theft Identity theft, identity piracy or identity infringement occurs when someone uses another's personal identifying information, like their name, identifying number, or credit card number, without their permission, to commit fraud or other crimes. ...
. LifeLock was fined $12 million by the Federal Trade Commission in March 2010 for deceptive advertising. The FTC called the company's prior marketing claims misleading to consumers by claiming to be a 100% guarantee against all forms of identity theft after the co-founder posted his social security number on build boards and commercials to promote the company's “anti data theft protection” . In 2015, the FTC found LifeLock to be in contempt of the 2010 agreement, charging that they "failed to establish and maintain a comprehensive
information security Information security is the practice of protecting information by mitigating information risks. It is part of information risk management. It typically involves preventing or reducing the probability of unauthorized or inappropriate access to data ...
program", and "falsely advertised that it protected consumers' sensitive data". The FTC obtained a $100 million monetary penalty against LifeLock to settle the contempt charge. Of that fine, $68 million was held for class-action refunds to LifeLock customers.


2022 data breach

In December 2022, LifeLock servers suffered an attack using
credential stuffing Credential stuffing is a type of cyberattack in which the attacker collects stolen account credentials, typically consisting of lists of usernames or email addresses and the corresponding passwords (often from a data breach), and then uses the cr ...
, and over 6,000 user accounts had their details disclosed, including names, addresses, and phone numbers. The method of attack was to use credentials from previous unrelated breaches. This resulted in a large number of failed login attempts on 16 December 2022. Notification of the breach was sent in January 2023.


See also

*
FICO FICO (legal name: Fair Isaac Corporation), originally Fair, Isaac and Company, is an American data analytics company based in Bozeman, Montana, focused on credit scoring services. It was founded by Bill Fair and Earl Isaac in 1956. Its FIC ...
* Todd Davis * Robert Maynard Jr.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lifelock Identity theft 2012 initial public offerings Companies formerly listed on the New York Stock Exchange Gen Digital acquisitions Norton (software) 2017 mergers and acquisitions Security software Defunct software companies of the United States