Network Associates’ Gauntlet customers worldwide will be transitioned to Secure Computing, developers of the Sidewinder Firewall and VPN Gateway.
Under the terms of the agreement, Secure Computing will acquire the Gauntlet firewall/VPN business assets from Network Associates for an undisclosed amount; including the Gauntlet firewall/VPN software, the firewall E-ppliance product line, and all of the related customer support contracts. Network Associates selected Secure Computing to acquire the Gauntlet business after a thorough search driven by their publicly stated commitment to find the best possible solution for their thousands of Gauntlet customers worldwide. The transaction is expected to close by February 22, 2002. Additional details related to the transitioning of Gauntlet customers to Secure Computing will be communicated to those customers shortly.
In October last year, we openly communicated to our Gauntlet firewall/VPN customers that we intended to sell our Gauntlet product line, but only in such a way as to meet a self-imposed obligation; to find a buyer that ensured a seamless support transition, said Sandra England, executive vice president of Business Development and Strategic Research at Network Associates. With Secure’s high-touch, live answer customer support and reputation for outstanding security products, we are fulfilling that promise by announcing the transfer of our Gauntlet product line, and the support and engineering teams, to Secure Computing.
The Gauntlet firewall was originally developed by Trusted Information Systems, Inc. (TIS), a company with a similar background to Secure’s. Both Secure Computing and TIS (which was acquired by Network Associates in 1998) began as elite computer-security-research firms under contract with the U.S. Government, including the National Security Agency (NSA). As a result, both Secure’s Sidewinder firewall and Network Associates’ Gauntlet firewall were built for the most rigorous security requirements, and are the firewalls of choice in the U.S. Government, and major financial, insurance, healthcare, transportation and manufacturing companies.
Secure Computing is the natural choice for Gauntlet customers, said Charles Kolodgy, research manager, Internet Security Software at IDC. Sidewinder and Gauntlet are true peers in the enterprise firewall market because customers demand high-assurance application level security, high-speed performance, and ease of administration. Secure Computing will meld Sidewinder’s proven technology with Gauntlet while seamlessly embedding McAfee anti-virus protection for mail, ftp, and Web traffic. We believe that this acquisition enhances Secure Computing’s security product offerings, increases its market share, and provides it with a robust new partnership.
As a result of this acquisition, Secure will be the worldwide leader in application-layer firewalls, said Tim McGurran, President and COO at Secure Computing. We are positioned to take the utmost advantage of the growing market opportunity presented by organizations expanding and strengthening perimeter security technologies in light of recent events and the significant increase in cyberattacks. We look forward to adding the over 4,000 Gauntlet customers and 100 Value Added Resellers to our growing list of satisfied customers and partners.
