Lavasoft: Can you hear me now?

On the surface, at least, it appears that there are strange goings on in LavaLand. As of this posting, there is no sign of the "Immediate Release" press release appearing anywhere at Lavasoft.com, in the News, the Blog or the Press Room. Yet, it showed up in my mailbox yesterday.

Edit Note: Although dated February 22, 2008, the Press Release was posted on the Lavasoft website today, 25Feb08.

The press release

"From:	press@lavasoft.com
To:	press@lists.lavasoft.com
Subject:	Press Release: Lavasoft Announces Management Shift
Date:	Fri, 22 Feb 2008 12:26:50 PM EST

For Immediate Release:

Lavasoft Announces Management Shift

Gothenburg, Sweden (February22, 2008) - Anti-spyware leader Lavasoft today announced a new addition to the management team. Cliff Everingham joined the company as Chief Technology Officer, while outgoing CTO, Joe Wells, shifts concentration as the new Key Scientist for Future Technologies at Lavasoft.

With over 20 years in the IT/Telecom industry, Cliff offers extensive management experience, having worked with companies including Ericsson, 3GIS, Vodafone, and Cisco Systems.

“I am very excited about joining a world-recognized organization like Lavasoft. We have a very ambitious year planned for 2008, and I will be focused on delivering new anti-spyware technology that meets the demands of today’s malware industry,” said Everingham. Lavasoft’s CEO, Jason King adds, “Computer users will definitely stand up and take notice when we roll out our new versions of Ad-Aware, as well as several other software tools this year.”

About Cliff Everingham

Everingham has an Engineering degree from the University of Technology in Sydney,Australia, and his Master degree in Business from Latrobe University in Melbourne,Australia. He was a key member of the 3G Strategies Group with Ericsson Sweden where he authored multiple white papers on product development.

About Lavasoft

Founded in 1999, Lavasoft is"the original anti-spyware company", with over a quarter of a billion downloads worldwide for the flagship Ad-Aware product. A private company headquartered in Gothenburg,Sweden, Lavasoft provides security solutions for individual consumers and enterprise clients alike, including anti-spyware, registry optimization, firewall, digital shredding, and encryption. Lavasoft has 4,000 partners in 120 countries.

For further information, please contact Michael Helander, Vice President of Marketing at Lavasoft, telephone +46 733 18 45 63 or press@lavasoft.com."

Did you ask why the announcement appears strange? Of course I will tell you.

It was as recent as August, 2007, that Lavasoft announced that the respected Joe Wells was joining Lavasoft as Chief Technical Officer (CTO). Six months later, a telecommunications specialist is assuming the position of CTO at a company that specializes in malware removal and other computer security products. How strange does that sound?

About Joe Wells:

The following was included in the September, 2007, Lavasoft News:

"Lavasoft is pleased to announce that a leading innovator in the security industry, Joseph Wells, has joined the company’s management team as chief technology officer. Wells is well-known for his extensive career in anti-Trojan and anti-virus solutions as well as his more recent work within anti-spyware and emerging security threats. Along with his widely recognized work in the security software field, Wells has authored over 60 technical articles and scientific papers. He is renowned as the founder of WildList Organization International, a global cooperative identifying and reporting the latest virus threats."

A bit more background on Joe appeared in the announcement of his appointment Chief Scientist, Security Research, for Sunbelt:

"Previously the chief antivirus architect at Fortinet, Wells is widely known for his work in research and development of security software. He developed his first product, a virus/Trojan detector, in 1988. Since then, he has made numerous technical contributions to the industry while working for Certus International, Symantec's Peter Norton Group, IBM's Thomas J. Watson Research Center and Cybersoft. Joe was also CEO of WarLab, a subsidiary of Trend Micro. A prolific writer, Wells has authored over 60 technical articles and scientific papers in the field of security research and has been the chief editor of two online technical journals. He is best known as the Founder of the WildList Organization International."

About Cliff Everingham

The only information that appears available in a Google search is his LinkedIn Profile, which essentially repeats the information posted in the press release:

Cliff Everingham
Operations Manager - 3GIS AB Sweden
Göteborg Area, Sweden

Operations Manager
3GIS AB
(Privately Held; 51-200 employees; Telecommunications industry)
February 2001 — Present (7 years 1 month)

Perhaps the next CTO will be a cartoonist.

Remember - "A day without laughter is a day wasted."
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