Trend Micro’s acquisition of InterMute is a sound move to enhance its overall security offering.
Speaking after the announcement, Trend CEO and co-founder Eva Chen asserted, somewhat confusingly, that one plus one in the case of Trend and InterMute equals three. This appeared to relate to the fact that InterMute’s anti-spyware product set would ultimately be combined with Trend’s own range of AV products and its own existing spyware solutions, to provide an integrated three-part product solution.
Without doubt the problems caused by the existence of spyware are getting worse. Across business and commerce there is now a unified recognition that the threats posed by spyware, in its many forms, need to be more inclusively addressed. To date, spyware detection and protection has mainly been provided by a group of small pure-play specialists, or as an extra layer within the blended protection offered by the leading providers. Now, with the recognition that 70% or more of PCs that regularly connect to the Internet are already playing the role of unwitting host to a multiple range of spyware infestations, the time for dealing with the problem on a more professional level is well overdue.
Trend is just the latest in an extensive line of leading protection practitioners that has decided that the quickest way to get fully up-to-speed on the spyware problem is via the acquisition route. They are probably right, because it is becoming almost impossible to have a serious conversation about systems protection without attempting to discover what level of spyware protection a vendor has available.
When asked for more information on future acquisition strategies, Trend Micro suggested that there were no further plans in place, and that the InterMute deal was special, in that it allowed Trend to substantially enhance the range of its already announced anti-spyware protection services, with a view to turning what will initially be seen as a dual anti-spyware engine into a powerful, across the product range, single source solution. Therefore, for Trend, with its strong AV focus, the acquisition of InterMute looks to be a good business move.
Source: OpinionWire by Butler Group (www.butlergroup.com)
