ClamAV was created in 2001 by Tomasz Kojm, a Polish programmer, as the first open-source antivirus engine specifically designed for Linux systems. The project began as a response to the growing need for virus scanning on Linux mail servers.
In 2007, ClamAV was acquired by Sourcefire, the company founded by Martin Roesch (creator of Snort). This acquisition brought additional resources and professional development to the project.
When Cisco acquired Sourcefire in 2013, ClamAV became part of Cisco’s security portfolio. Today, ClamAV is maintained by the Cisco Talos security research team, one of the largest commercial threat intelligence teams.
| Year | Version | Notable Changes |
|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 0.01 | Initial release |
| 2003 | 0.50 | Introduction of clamd daemon |
| 2007 | 0.90 | Improved malware detection |
| 2013 | 0.97 | Enhanced performance and scalability |
| 2018 | 0.100 | Major architectural improvements |
| 2021 | 0.103 | Improved cloud integration |
| 2024 | 1.0+ | Modern architecture with Rust components |
ClamAV holds the distinction of being:
ClamAV remains actively maintained by Cisco Talos with: