Network Associates to buy IntruVert for US$100 million

Network Associates Inc. on Tuesday bolstered its arsenal of offerings to protect against network intrusions and cyberattacks by announcing an agreement to acquire IntruVert Networks Inc., a maker of hardware-based firewalls and intrusion detection systems.

Network Associates, based in Santa Clara, California, will acquire San Jose, California-based IntruVert for US$100 million in cash, the companies said in a statement.

IntruVert offers two network-based intrusion detection devices that are capable of blocking network attacks, the IntruShield 4000 and IntruShield 2600. The devices combine signature detection, DoS (denial-of-service) analysis, and anomaly searching capabilities into a hardware-based appliance platform. The IntruShield 4000 sensor appliance is designed to block attacks on large networks by inspecting incoming traffic for illegitimate packets at rates as fast as 2G bps (bits per second), while the IntruShield 2600 sensor appliance, designed for small and medium-sized networks, scales to detection rates as fast as 600M bps.

The deal, subject to regulatory approvals and approval by IntruVert stockholders, is expected to be completed in 45 days, according to a statement issued by Network Associates.