Security news
Security news24 September 2003
Analysts react to news of Sophos acquiring ActiveState, and entering the anti-spam marketplace
Industry analysts have reacted positively to the news of Sophos acquiring anti-spam experts ActiveState. Read what the analysts have to say below.
| IDC Research 24 September 2003 |  |
"In light of current threats to enterprise email, we believe that corporations need to think in terms of a total messaging security solution that prevents leaks of private or confidential data, inappropriate emails, large files, viruses and other messages that violate corporate policy. We recommend that companies adopt a 'layered security' strategy that combines desktop anti-virus, server and gateway anti-virus, spam filtering, and proactive techniques such as behavior analysis and heuristics.
"The marriage of Sophos and ActiveState is a logical step in this direction, and will provide significant advantages to customers. This is a positive move for both companies, who will benefit from a strong market position and expanded footprint within the enterprise."
Brian Burke, Research Manager
| META Group 24 September 2003 |  |
"The acquisition of ActiveState by Sophos is precisely where we believe the email control market needs to go. Tools which combine spam, virus blocking and other mail hygiene services represent the best approach to improving overall email system health. We recommend that end user organizations look for mail management tools that combine multiple disciplines from well-established vendors that offer global support."
Matt Cain, Vice President
| Ferris Research 24 September 2003 |  |
"Sophos and ActiveState have a shared vision, strong and complementary products, and a similar culture of engineering excellence. Enterprises increasingly look to a single vendor for protection against spam and viruses at the gateway, so the acquisition of ActiveState by Sophos makes a lot of sense."
David Ferris, President
| Gartner Inc. 24 September 2003 |  |
"There is growing enterprise demand for combined anti-spam and anti-virus product and service capabilities at the email boundary."
Arabella Hallawell, Research Director
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