SiteAdvisor Bought by McAfee

Back in February I wrote about what a great concept a “HoneyMonkey” was, which is an automated bot that will expose itself to any and all threats posed by specific websites, and then provide a safety rating on whether or not the site is safe. SiteAdvisor was the company that was cashing in on the idea.

I also predicted that SiteAdvisor would soon get gobbled up by one of the Big AV companies or a portal company. My prediction was true. McAfee acquired the company. Good for them, and good for their customers.

I also predict that this will be a big gain for AOL too, which used McAfee as their portal-wide AV protection vendor. AOL, which started out with deplorable safety and security for their users, probably now has the best of any other Internet Portal.

From CNET here:

McAfee buys search-warning company

Security company McAfee has acquired SiteAdvisor in a move to fortify defenses for people before they browse potentially malicious Web sites.

Boston-based SiteAdvisor informs people conducting Web searches whether their results include sites potentially associated with spyware, adware, spam and browser attacks. The safety ratings are displayed next to the search results with red, yellow or green icons.

The company’s testing and rating service works on Google, Yahoo and Microsoft’s MSN, appearing as a small button in the browser toolbar.

Although the service will be marketed to McAfee’s vast consumer base, the security giant is also eyeing its use for businesses.

“This unique technology adds another dimension of strength and value to McAfee’s threat database and will offer a significant corporate benefit,” George Heron, McAfee chief scientist, said in a statement.

McAfee continues to outpace rivals for key acquisitions for its security technology. Symantec is still reeling from its lousy acquisition of Veritas which caused its stock to plummet by 200 percent. While Symantec seems to be running scared in fear that Microsoft will grow to dominate the AV and security industry, McAfee is boldly sticking to what it knows, and is continuing to strive for internet security excellence.