Symantec thoughtfully timed the announcement of its acquisition
of encryption vendors PGP and GuardianEdge to occur during the
last day of the UK's 2010 InfoSec conference. The gossip quickly
spread around the Earls Court exhibition hall. Staff on the PGP
stand, whilst ever-friendly, were tight lipped, under orders to
make no comment on the news except that the future looked
decidedly yellow.
Symantec's main competitors were quick to dismiss the news as the
end of PGP, stating that products flounder once they are consumed
by the big yellow monster. Although some of Symantec's
acquisitions do seem to have disappeared without trace, there was
clear evidence at the show itself that this is not always true.
There were, in fact, two bright yellow stands of more or less
equal stature; Symantec's "main" stand and one for Symantec
Hosted Services—a clear commitment to on-demand security
service built on the back of its 2008 acquisition of MessageLabs.
The acquisition of PGP is a continuation of Symantec's mission to
remain the world's largest vendor of information security
products and ensure it has as full a portfolio as possible to
offer its customers. Entering the encryption market takes it a
step further, the largest remaining gap is now identity, access
and authentication.
In buying PGP, Symantec has continued its practice of not just
buying respected technology, but acquiring market leaders and
therefore maximising market share. It says it bought GuardianEdge
to plug some gaps in the PGP offering, such as endpoint and
mobile encryption; it already had an OEM agreement with the
company dating back to 2008.
As Quocirca pointed out in its report
Content Security for the Next Decade, encryption is an
essential part of content security, protecting data when it is
stored or in transit. Pervasive content security also requires
data loss prevention (see Quocirca's new freely available report
You
sent WHAT?) and endpoint protection, to guard data in use.
Symantec already had offerings in both areas from its acquisition
of Vontu in 2007 and Sygate in 2005.
Because of PGP's market-leading position and its wide range of
OEM relationships, many organisations that were not Symantec
customers before will find they have become so once the
acquisition is approved. Whether they see this as a good or bad
thing will depend on how well Symantec manages the integration of
the two new businesses into its existing structure; an area where
it has plenty of experience.
Whether you admire Symantec or view it as a big yellow monster,
all know that the latest news makes it even more of a force to be
reckoned with.
We are no longer accepting comments against this item. We suggest contacting the author directly.
