Intel has stumped up $7.7 billion to buy security software company, McAfee, claiming that security is set to become the third key computing pillar.
Under the deal McAfee will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Intel, and it will report to Intel’s software and services group.
Intel CEO Paul Otellini says that the proposed acquisition will enable Intel to innovate even further the development of secure computing.
“Over the past couple of decades there have been a few critically important inflexions in computing [such as the internet and rise of the personal computer] and we now live in a world of multiple devices,” said Otellini during a conference call to announce the McAfee deal.
“Growing alongside [this] is the frequency of security attacks. The number of new threats continues to rise,” he added.
“As a result, we have concluded that security has become the third pillar of computing after energy.
He added: “The addition of McAfee products and technologies into the Intel computing portfolio brings us incredibly talented people with a track record of delivering security innovations, products and services that the industry and consumers trust to make connecting to the internet safer and more secure,” Otellini stated.
Intel says the acquisition “enables a combination of security software and hardware from one company to ultimately better protect consumers, corporations and governments as billions of devices – and the server and cloud networks that manage them – go online”.
