CUPERTINO, Calif. -- Symantec Corp. announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire Sygate Technologies, a technology leader in endpoint compliance solutions. Sygate's technology will complement Symantec's presence on the endpoint to create a holistic solution to address the security, compliance, and remediation requirements of today's large enterprises. The acquisition is expected to close shortly after receiving customary regulatory approvals.
"Securing the 'endpoints' of a corporate network is a challenge that affects all enterprises," said Chris Christiansen, vice president of security products and services, IDC. "Companies are looking for integrated offerings that can both protect the network and ensure that endpoints are compliant with security policies. This acquisition will give customers a complete endpoint compliance solution while helping to reduce complexity and cost."
Endpoint compliance solutions help enterprise organizations enforce security by guaranteeing that all devices connected to a network -- desktops, laptops, servers, and mobile devices -- are running the appropriate security solutions, are configured correctly, and possess up-to-date patches. Symantec will now be able to help businesses enforce business policies and automate security practices to regain control of network security, reduce costs, and ensure compliance across the organization.
"It is critical to have an endpoint compliance solution that will allow companies to leverage their existing IT infrastructure to control the myriad devices connecting to the network," said Enrique Salem, senior vice president, Security Products and Solutions at Symantec. "A recognized leader in endpoint compliance, Sygate provides the first universal network access control system designed to protect the entire enterprise network -- from mobile devices to servers to unmanaged devices. The fact that their technology is built on industry standards means that companies don't have to implement expensive infrastructure changes to deploy this solution."
For more than five years, enterprise customers have turned to Sygate to automate the process of discovering endpoints, determining their compliance with security policies, enforcing network access control, remediating noncompliant systems, and then continuously monitoring for compliance. The Sygate Universal Network Access Control system enables enterprises to extend the protections of network access control to every type of network access (VPN, wireless, wired switch, DHCP, and home networks) and on all endpoints (desktops, laptops, servers, guest systems, and embedded devices) and allows them to define how secure an endpoint must be before it can access specific network resources, even when users take their mobile devices off the corporate network.
"Thanks to the support of our customers, employees, investors, partners, and shareholders, Sygate has helped some of the largest, most complex enterprises to secure their infrastructures and eliminate disruptions to business-critical computer systems," said John DeSantis, president and CEO of Sygate Technologies. "Combining our entrepreneurial spirit and expertise in endpoint compliance with Symantec's outstanding resources, corporate culture and market leadership in client security will allow us to offer customers the most comprehensive solution for both managed and unmanaged endpoints."
Upon close of the deal, Symantec AntiVirus and Symantec Client Security customers will be able to license and deploy Sygate's Network Access Control (SNAC) agent to provide endpoint compliance on top of the protection they already receive. Symantec will integrate its remediation capabilities like LiveUpdate and LiveState Patch Manager and its data availability solutions into a more robust endpoint compliance solution.
Protecting enterprise networks and application data from exposure by user access from unmanaged devices like business center kiosks has also proven to be a unique challenge for enterprises. Sygate On-Demand Agent (SODA) provides a small lightweight agent that can be downloaded via SSL and portal connections. This agent ensures that endpoints that are not company-owned or managed are in compliance with corporate security policies and that the transaction data itself is secure.
In addition to providing network access control and key on-demand security technology, Sygate also provides award-winning endpoint protection capability. Recently announced Sygate Enterprise Solution (SEP) 5.0 provides broad protection and control in a single agent and under simplified management. Symantec expects to leverage and integrate these technologies with its existing endpoint protection products. Until that integration occurs, SEP 5.0 will be offered alongside Symantec's other endpoint security solutions.
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