Symantec aquires IMLogic

Security company Symantec leaped into the nascent market for protecting instant messaging systems on Tuesday, announcing that it has agreed to acquire IMlogic, one of the sector's top players. Financial terms were not released. But Carlin Wiegner, a senior director of Web security at Symantec, said in an interview with CNET News.com that the Cupertino, Calif.-based company has agreed to pay all cash for 100-employee IMlogic, and expects the deal to close later this quarter.

IMlogic, headquartered in Boston, sells the IM Manager software, which promises to safeguard public and corporate IM networks while providing companies with a means to monitor and archive IM traffic. Security companies have largely focused on protecting e-mail servers up to now, but they're starting to turn their attention to instant messaging as it grows in popularity.

This is a very logical buy and frankly I am surprised IMLogic and FaceTime have not been snapped up sooner. This will undoubtably put pressure on FaceTime now, IMLogics' biggest competitor. IM security will become as important as messaging security and we have been discussing the looming IM issues quite often on this site.

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CATEGORIES : 1IM, 1aquisitions