Intel is buying Internet security firm McAfee for US$7.68 billion, as the computer chip giant seeks to expand its reach to mobile and wireless devices.
Intel, whose processors power nearly 80 percent of computers worldwide, has arranged to pay US$48 per share for all of McAfee’s common stock, a 60 percent premium on the security vendor’s closing value on Wednesday.
Panda Security chief executive Juan Santana welcomed the move as good news for the industry and said he suspected that a factor in McAfee’s decision to sell was increasingly tough competition in the market.
“As we have been saying all along, security has to be a pillar in next-generation computing,” Santana said.
CLOUD COMPUTING
Intel had also long been interested in McAfee technology widely used to keep data secure in “cloud computing,” a growing trend for applications or information storage to be hosted as services on the Internet, according to Santana.
The board of directors at both companies has unanimously approved the take-over, though it remains subject to approval from regulatory authorities.
The acquisition of one of the world’s largest anti-virus software companies underscores Intel’s bid to move into mobile phones, in-car navigation systems, televisions and medical devices as the traditional PC market nears saturation.
“There is an explosion of billions of devices on the Internet that need to be secured ... The embedded market is very specific and a high opportunity market for us,” Intel’s head of software Renee James said.
INTERNET SECURITY
McAfee chief executive Dave DeWalt emphasized the huge potential for Internet security business as wireless devices become an increasingly ubiquitous part of day-to-day life.
“Cybercriminals and cyberterrorists are misusing the Internet’s open and any-to-any communication architecture for malicious purposes, leaving many users at risk and the future of the Internet as we know it in question,” he said in his blog following the acquisition announcement.
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