@37284 Security vendors have watched with growing concern as
Microsoft Corp. plunges deeper into the IT security market. The
vendors also have Google Inc. to worry about.
The search engine giant announced this week it has acquired
Mountain View, Calif.-based security firm GreenBorder Technologies
Inc., which specializes in sandbox technology to defend email and
Web users from malware. Google has not yet released terms of the
deal, which closed in the last couple of weeks. It also hasn't
announced how it will absorb GreenBorder into its services, though
spokesman Aaron Zamost said in published reports that the
technology could be used across a variety of Google products.
GreenBorder makes software that establishes temporary, virtual
sessions whenever the user accesses the Internet, then purges the
resulting data once the user is done surfing. The technology is
designed to help IT shops shield corporate networks from malware
that may come by way of email, instant messages or Web sites.
According to the
Google Operating System blog, an unofficial blog dedicated to
news about the search giant, GreenBorder's application was
initially a sandbox for Internet Explorer, but now supports Firefox
as well.
GreenBorder said on its Web site that it will continue to
support its existing customers through the end of their current
subscriptions.
According to Eric Maiwald, senior analyst at Midvale, Utah-based
Burton Group, the move makes sense for Google, given the increasing
reliance people have on the Internet for their work purposes.
"Google is looking at its own applications and the fact that
more people work through the Web," he said. "It's trying to quell
people's concerns over the use of its services."
Maiwald isn't so sure that this will create the same level of
fear in the market that has been caused by Microsoft's security
endeavors. After all, he said, Google is merely the latest in a
long list of giants to bake more security into its larger
infrastructure.
IBM moved in that direction with the acquisition of Internet
Security Systems Inc. (ISS) last year, and Cisco Systems has
been more aggressive about its security.
"Will this affect the security guys? Sure, anything like this
will," he said. "But there are so many niche technologies out there
that there is something for everyone to latch onto. Security
vendors who find the right niche will continue to thrive."
Jonathan Eunice, a principal at Nashua, N.H.-based consultancy
Illuminata Inc., agreed.
"I don't see Google going specifically into the security and
protection business," he said. "Instead, it wants to be central to
people's Internet usage."
He said that if Google follows the course it has previously set
with Sketchup, Picassa, Google Earth, and other offerings, it will
be giving away a free, high-visibility protection tool.