Computer Associates have acquired PestPatrol, in a bid to expand their portfolio of software to cover anti-spyware tools.
CA will be including PestPatrol’s application in their eTrust Threat Management suite, whilst renaming the tool eTrust PestPatrol.
Russell Artzt, executive vice president of eTrust security management at CA, said: “This acquisition enhances CA’s position as the world’s leading provider of security management solutions for the safety of Internet connectivity and the integrity of computing environments in the office and home alike.”
Anti-virus software houses are keen to expand their range of products to tackle the main problems that internet users face: spam, adware, viruses and hacking attempts. Companies like Symantec and McAfee have acquired and developed their products to meet consumer demand for solutions and also to create single control centres dealing with these problems, rather than relying on three or four separate applications.
Anti-spyware applications are not as mainstream as anti-virus packages, though with increasing consumer awareness could well be the next big thing for security software publishers.