Symantec buys BindView

To give another indication of the roles that Integrity Architectures would play in our lives in the future, Symantec plans to acquire compliance specialist BindView for $209 million in cash. BindView, based in Houston, Texas, develops security software that is designed to automate policy and compliance management, vulnerability and configuration management, and directory and access management. Companies have come under increasing pressure to adopt such technologies in order to meet the demands of financial reporting regulations such as those laid down by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

The deal comes less then two months after Symantec purchased Sygate Technologies, another regulatory compliance specialist. The BindView purchase is designed to round out Symantec's policy compliance and vulnerability management lineup. With the Sygate aquisition, Symantec currently offers an agent-based technology architecture in which an agent is installed on each system to check for regulatory compliance and management. But for computer systems that do not need agents installed on end-point devices and can be accessed remotely, an agent-less product like that provided by BindView would be used.

When the big hitters start spending big bucks on Integrity Architectures and Admission control products you know we are in a market making phase. We are going to see interesting battles with the likes of Cisco's NAC which takes an "embedded in the network infrastructure" approach versus Symantec and others who are taking appliance based approaches.

CATEGORIES: 1endpoint security, 1integrity architectures, 1admission control, 1compliance management, 1aquisitions, 1access management,1vendors, 1policy enforcement