Zeobit
| Private Company | |
| Industry |
Security software Computer software |
| Founded | U.S. (September 2009) |
| Founder | Slava Kolomiychuk |
| Headquarters | Sunnyvale, California, U.S. |
Area served | U.S. |
| Products | MacKeeper, PCKeeper |
| Website | zeobit.com |
ZeoBIT LLC is a technology and software company formed in 2009 by CEO Slava Kolomiychuk. The company's headquarters is located in the United States. The company specializes in computer security software and internet security. ZeoBIT is best known for the bundled utility software they produce called MacKeeper, the multifunctional software that combines 16 individual applications for Macintosh computers. Their software is often called by many critics a scam that installs malware.
History
In 2006 Slava Kolomiychuk attended Kiev Polytechnic Institute and got a strong interest in software development and web applications. Slava earned his master's degree in Computer Science. After graduation he created his own startup, dedicated to the development of security and performance software. The core idea of the startup was to combine a classic Antivirus protection with system utilities in a one single application. When the product model and business plan was complete, Slava decided that the time for investments has come. ZeoBIT LLC was incorporated in September 2009 in the US State of California. ZeoBIT has a management headquarters in Sunnyvale, California and partnership offices in Europe and Asia that house developers and the customer support. In March 2010 the first product called MacKeeper (for Mac OS X) was released and in September 2010 PCKeeper (for Windows) was released. In 2014 A Pennsylvania woman filed a class action lawsuit against ZeoBIT LLC, claiming that the company’s computer security program identifies problems that don’t exist and generates false error messages to scare users into purchasing an upgrade. (see Holly Yencha, et al. v. ZeoBIT LLC, Case No. 2:13-cv-00578, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.) According to the complaint filed in US District court, “Once installed, MacKeeper prompts the user to conduct a diagnostic scan,” the MacKeeper class action lawsuit says. “This scan purportedly detects errors that lead to the problems identified in ZeoBIT’s marketing materials (i.e., performance issues, security and privacy threats)—problems that MacKeeper is supposedly designed to fix.” However, the ZeoBIT class action lawsuit alleges that after the diagnostic scan is completed, MacKeeper reports that it identified thousands of issues that cause the computer to be in “critical” condition. While the trial version of MacKeeper purports to “fix” a limited number of the issues, customers are encouraged to purchase a full, registered version of the security software to fully repair the computer. Yencha alleges that neither the free trial nor the full versions of MacKeeper perform reliable diagnostic testing of the computer. “Instead, ZeoBIT intentionally designed MacKeeper to invariably and ominously report that a user’s Mac needs repair and is at-risk due to harmful (but fabricated) errors, privacy threats, and other computer problems, regardless of the computer’s actual condition,” the class action lawsuit alleges.
The Mackeeper website is known for hijacking browsers and redirecting to pop ups and pop unders which resist deletion and from which deceptive tactics are used to entice people to purchase the software. Kolomiychuk has never been charged with any sort of cybercrimes.
On May 13, 2010 the first beta-version of MacKeeper 0.8 was released. On October 4, 2010 the PCKeeper (MacKeeper’s analogy for the personal computers) (version 1.1.48) was released. On October 26, 2010 ZeoBIT LLC released MacKeeper 1.0 – 911 for Mac OS that represented a set of essential features: Security, Data Control, Cleaning, Optimization and more. On January 30, 2012 MacKeeper 2.0 was released with updates in security, data control, cleaning and optimization.
Products
MacKeeper
MacKeeper is utility software for macOS that claims to provide tools for security, cleaning, optimization and data control. MacKeeper and ZeoBIT were the official sponsors of the MacWorld | iWorld [1] expo in San Francisco, California in 2011 & 2012.
MacKeeper is often criticized for unethical marketing tactics, and Zeobit is currently the defendant in a class action suit alleging fraud. Mackeeper has long been regarded by many as a scam.
PCKeeper
PCKeeper is a bundle of most important system utilities for performing different tasks on the PС, such as antivirus, data control and optimization tools, drive clean-up utilities and much more. According to Virus Bulletin, PCKeeper has scored 91.9% in RAP test and was listed as number 6 antivirus in the world.[2] It was acquired by Kromtech Alliance Corp in May 2013.
ZeoDisk
The ZeoDisk project is a cloud storage solution that will also be integrated in to the existing ZeoBIT products.
Partnerships
In 2011 ZeoBIT partnered with Avira to integrate their virus database technology in MacKeeper and PCKeeper’s Internet Security features. This partnership allowed ZeoBIT to offer internet security options for the macOS, Windows, Linux, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, and Solaris computing platforms.
ZeoBIT is a registered member of the Better Business Bureau or as it is commonly known as The BBB.[3]
Contrary to its claim, ZeoBIT is not BBB accredited and currently has an F BBB rating.[4]
ZeoBIT is a Microsoft Silver Certified developer.[5]
ZeoBIT is an official OPSWAT partner.[6]
References
- ↑ ZeoBIT is MacWorld sponsor Archived June 30, 2012, at the Wayback Machine./
- ↑ Virus Bulletin
- ↑ BBB.org
- ↑ http://www.bbb.org/losangelessiliconvalley/business-reviews/computer-software-publishers-and-developers/zeobit-in-sunnyvale-ca-1000004640
- ↑ ZeoBIT LLC - Microsoft Pinpoint
- ↑ opswat.com Archived September 15, 2012, at the Wayback Machine.