New Security Products Keep Worms, Viruses At Bay

Symantec announced that it has purchased a security technology patent asset from Hilgraeve Inc., of Monroe, Mich. The patent covers in-transit scanning for malicious code and was no impulse buy, costing Symantec $62.5 million. The deal was made as part of a settlement of a lawsuit Hilgraeve had filed against Symantec, which also receives licenses to the remaining patents in Hilgraeve's portfolio, including ones for data communications.

Symantec officials spun the deal as an essential addition to its antivirus lineup, but it comes at a slight cost, as it forces the company to adjust its previously reported first quarter results. The financial impact of this settlement on GAAP net income for the fiscal first quarter is $9.5 million and the impact on earnings per share is $0.05, resulting in revised GAAP net income for the fiscal first quarter of $59 million and revised earnings per share of $0.36.

The company also said it will announce Symantec AntiVirus for Handhelds on Aug. 25, including consumer and enterprise versions; and Symantec AntiVirus for Handhelds Corporate Edition with Event and Configuration Manager, which will include centralized settings management, policy configuration and enforcement, and centralized logging, alerting and reporting.

Also on Aug. 25, Phoenix Technologies and Network Associates (NA) will announce a deal that will allow PC manufacturers to load Network Associates' McAfee Security anti-virus software into Phoenix's CME (Core Managed Environment), making the applications inaccessible to viruses, hacking, or other system malfunctions. By loading NA's McAfee Security technology into this area of the hard drive, should a virus or rogue code attack occur, users can detect infected files and automatically clean, quarantine or delete them to ensure the computer is protected even if the operating system has failed.

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In other security partnership news, Network Engines and Authenex announced an agreement to jointly develop and market two-factor authentication network security appliances. TidalWire, the distribution arm of Network Engines, will be the exclusive distributor of the new appliances, which will include the Authenex Strong Authentication System for two-factor VPN and LAN authentication, and a two-factor authentication system that integrates Authenex ASAS with the Microsoft ISA Server 2000. The appliances will ship later this year.

Finally, Tumbleweed Communications announced that it has been granted the US Patent for the integrated e-mail firewall. The patent covers the integration of an SMTP relay with multiple e-mail management and security solutions -- such as anti-spam, anti-virus, content filtering for regulatory compliance, archival or encryption -- into a single platform built around a common policy engine. The company already holds 13 U.S. patents, has 20 more pending in the U.S. and another 60 pending worldwide. A security trade magazine recently named its fifth-generation integrated solution as its top e-mail firewall.