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Subject: [ISN] Check Point Expands Security Reach With Three Acquisitions
From: InfoSec News <alerts () infosecnews ! org>
Date: 2007-01-26 6:30:35
Message-ID: Pine.LNX.4.61.0701260030230.27737 () conundrum ! infosecnews ! org
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http://www.technewsworld.com/story/55354.html
By Jack M. Germain
TechNewsWorld
01/24/07
Security provider Check Point announced last week that it is near
completion of three acquisitions. The company will continue the focus
begun three or four years ago on acquiring companies to expand its
security product offerings, said Dave Burton, director of Check Point's
product marketing. Stopping ongoing threats to data is a pressing need,
according to Laura Yecies, Check Point vice president.
Internet security firm Check Point Software Technologies announced that
it has completed the acquisition of NFR Security and is nearing
completion of it purchase of Protect Data and Pointsec Mobile
Technologies.
Company officials said the acquisitions will help Check Point expand its
reach into the data security market. The acquired technologies will be
an important part of Check Point's core platform enhancement, according
to Gil Shwed, founder and chief executive officer.
The company will continue the focus begun three or four years ago on
acquiring companies to expand its security product offerings, said Dave
Burton, director of product marketing at Check Point.
Data Threats
"This is a big initiative, and we will continue this year with security
acquisitions," Burton told TechNewsWorld. "We are pushing hard in doing
this to better protect our customers' data."
Stopping ongoing threats to data is a pressing need, according to Laura
Yecies, vice president of Check Point. She also serves as general
manager of anti-intrusion software developer ZoneAlarm, recently
acquired by Check Point.
"Our vision is to look at securing data across the network, especially
mobile devices," said Yecies. "These purchases allow us to add
signature-based protection. Connecting technology with firewalls is so
very exciting for us."
Yecies said that the Pointsec acquisition was a vital component of
achieving that vision. Pointsec has the leading product, she said.
Pointsec delivers automatic data encryption on mobile devices.
Acquisition Overview
Check Point delivers security solutions for businesses and consumers
worldwide. Through its NGX platform, it provides a unified security
architecture that integrates manageability and security across the full
network infrastructure.
NFR Security's real-time threat protection systems secure business
networks against four primary threat points: automated malware,
information leakage, vulnerability windows and unsanctioned network
changes.
NFR's Sentivist Real-Time Threat Protection attempts to block intrusion
attacks, zero-day attacks, anomaly exploits, malicious code, backdoors,
command tampering and polymorphic buffer overflows.
The acquisition will allow the company to enhance its own SmartDefense
product line with NFR's Hybrid Detection Engine (HDE), Check Point
officials said. The result will provide real-time attack prevention by
combining preemptive, type-based protection in SmartDefense with attack
detection provided by the HDE technology.
Check Point is already integrating NFR's intrusion detection and
prevention (IDS/IPS) technologies into its existing network security
portfolio of firewall, VPN and security management solutions, according
to company officials.
Deal Details
Check Point also announced that it has completed the cash tender offer
to acquire the Swedish firm Protect Data for a price of 187 Swedish
kronor (US$26.66) per share.
The company received acceptances of the offer from holders of 20,012,234
Protect Data shares, representing approximately 87.1 percent of the
outstanding shares, and 104,700 warrants, representing approximately
81.8 percent of the outstanding warrants, Check Point Officials said.
On a fully diluted basis, the shares and warrants tendered represent
approximately 87.1 percent.
Company officials agreed to acquire the shares and warrants which have
been tendered for a total cost of approximately 3,764 million Swedish
kronor(US $534 million), according to written statements from Check
Point.
"This acquisition is a major step in our strategy for expanding Check
Point's unified security architecture into data security," said Shwed.
"With Pointsec's world-class solutions, Check Point can provide
customers with best-of-breed data security solutions that complement our
leading network security solutions," he noted.
Copyright 1998-2007 ECT News Network, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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