McAfee to acquire firewall protection player Stonesoft

8 May 2013

Software security firm McAfee is jostling for leadership position in network security with its bid to acquire Stonesoft Oyj, a provider of next-generation network firewall products, for about US$389m in cash.

Stonesoft, based in Helsinki, Finland, delivers solutions to secure the flow of information and simplify security management.  The company’s portfolio of next-generation firewalls, evasion prevention systems, and SSL VPN solutions addresses businesses of all sizes.

McAfee plans to integrate Stonesoft’s offerings with other McAfee products, said Michael DeCesare, president of McAfee.

“With the pending addition of Stonesoft’s products and services, McAfee is making a significant investment in next-generation firewall technology. These solutions anticipate emerging customer needs in a continually evolving threat landscape,” said DeCesare.

Ilkka Hiidenheimo, CEO of Stonesoft, said the combination of the two companies allows Stonesoft to benefit from McAfee’s global presence, threat research, technology synergies, and sales organisation of more than 2,200 employees.

“Combined, we believe we can offer our customers a world-class product portfolio with world-class support,” Hiidenheimo said.

McAfee image via Shutterstock

Tina Costanza was a journalist and sub-editor at Silicon Republic

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