Effort to integrate security into heart of computing overdue

Intel's (NASDAQ: INTC) move to acquire McAfee for $7.68 billion last week caught many industry observers by surprise, and left many others--particularly financial analysts--unsure of the real purpose behind the acquisition.  (We posted a brief run down of some of the initial reaction.) As the dust settled around the news, though, the possible implications for improved network security started to become clearer. 

While some analysts and pundits saw the purchase of the security software vendor as an effort by Intel to make inroads in the mobile device market, others took it more at face value: A much-needed move to integrate security into the heart of computing. As threats grow in volume and sophistication, enterprises need much more powerful security technology integrated into their systems, but there hasn't been anyone in the security market with the size, scope and reach to accomplish this.   

Perhaps it shouldn't come as a surprise that Wall Street analysts were (like so many headlines said) scratching their heads over the announcement, while tech veterans tended to see it as a sensible, positive move. Security remains a hard sell among the top brass; if you are more focused on the next quarter's bottom line than the long-term viability of the corporate network and information assets, it can be tough to see the value of investing in something to prevent unknown catastrophes.

But if you are focused on the imperative of securing the network and corporate data, you've probably been waiting for a long time for someone like Intel to buy someone like McAfee. And you probably won't be taken off guard to see other major vendors follow Intel's lead in the not-so-distant future. - Caron