Symantec Buys @Stake

Anti-virus specialist Symantec late Thursday
announced a deal to acquire privately held security consulting firm
@Stake. Financial terms of the transaction were not released.

The deal, which is expected to close in October, signals a
continuation of Symantec’s multi-million-dollar shopping
spree, which included the purchase of Riptech, Inc. for an estimated
$145 million; Recourse Technologies for about $135 million; and
SecurityFocus for approximately $75 million.

In addition, Symantec recently made purchases in the anti-spam
sector, shelling
out $370 million to acquire Brightmail and $28
million for TurnTide.

With @Stake, Symantec gets an influential security research and
consulting firm with high-end clients in the banking and
telecommunications sectors. The company has conducted software evaluation
research for Microsoft , and it counts six of the world’s
top 10 financial institutions among its client base.

@Stake, which was backed by Battery Ventures and Madison Dearborn
Partners, markets software for application protection. The company’s
flagship @stake LC 5 application lets IT admins audit and recover user
and administrator passwords. It also hawks the @stake WebProxy tool
that helps software developers and security professionals test and
enhance the security of Web applications.

@stake is also known for its research work in finding and documenting
security flaws in operating systems and application software.

Once the deal closes, Symantec said it would incorporate @Stake’s
products and services into its global professional services division.