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Symantec buys SafeWeb for $26m

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CIOL Bureau
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SAN FRANCISCO: Anti-virus and Internet security software maker, Symantec Corp. has acquired SafeWeb Inc. for $26 million in cash in order to expand the features of its computer network security products for businesses.



California, Emeryville, based SafeWeb, allows companies to open their secured computer networks to remote users, such as employees or customers, without requiring the user to install special software.



Symantec said it intends to offer SafeWeb's technology as a stand-alone service starting in the first quarter of next year and plans to integrate the capabilities of SafeWeb's products into its Gateway Security Appliance later next year. Symantec is based in Cupertino, California.



In 2001, SafeWeb shuttered an anonymous Web surfing service that had been partly backed by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, which was looking to allow citizens of authoritarian countries to get around Internet censorship.



SafeWeb at the time said its free service's business model, based on advertising, did not work, and it then switched its focus to corporate security services.



© Reuters

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