Network Associates Bolsters Anti-Spam OfferingsNetwork Associates Bolsters Anti-Spam Offerings

Security vendor Network Associates Inc. strengthened its anti-spam offerings Monday with the acquisition of Deersoft Inc. Network Associates says it will assume all support obligations for Deersoft customers who use its consumer and business anti-spam software.

Zoe Lowther, senior solution marketing manager for McAfee Security, a division of Network Associates, says Network Associates will deliver anti-spam apps for E-mail servers and gateways as well as for desktops. The first product, McAfee SpamKiller Enterprise, will be delivered by June and will provide spam protection for desktops. During the second half of the year, Network Associates will integrate Deersoft's anti-spam technology into its McAfee Webshield and GroupShield apps, which protect Internet gateways and E-mail servers.

Lowther says Network Associates chose Deersoft after testing much of the anti-spam technology available on the market. "Deersoft's rule-based anti-spam technology conducts more than 750 tests on each E-mail, and this significantly reduces the false positive rate," she says.

Pete Lindstrom, research director with Spire Security, says spam is a major nuisance for businesses. "It's a bandwidth and resource hog, and there's always the potential for liability if offending pornographic E-mail reaches employees," he says. Lindstrom expects more acquisitions by Network Associates during the year. "They have to fill some areas of their security offerings, such as host-based intrusion prevention," he says. "So Network Associates buying Internet Security Systems is not unreasonable."