Security beyond the PC: Intel buys McAfee

One of the key takeaways from our 2010 CONNECTIONS™ conference was a note that we would expect to see more activity in developing security solutions for devices beyond the PC. I have made note of some of the interesting activity in this space this year, particularly with companies such as Mocana being more active in developing security solutions for smartphones.

Today's news that Intel is buying McAfee for a is a reflection on the heterogeneity of IP devices, and Intel's own press release mentions ATMs, connected cars, Internet-connected televisions, medical devices, and mobile. Just a few weeks ago, McAfee aquired tenCube, the devleoper of WaveSecure, a locate, lock, back-up and wipe technology. The combination of McAfee's mobile security platform, with the WaveSecure solution and Trust Digital’s enterprise mobility management, users will have the ability to locate, lock, encrypt, protect against malware, wipe, filter, manage, back-up, restore and access their data online.

Security - Beyond the PC to include smartphones and consumer electronics

Mocana is a company to which I was recently introduced. The company specializes in security for non-PC devices - including mobile, datacom, smart trid, federal, consumer, industrial and medical. The company today announced C-Series financing from Symantec. In its press release, Symantec indicated that enhancements to mobile security would be its inital thrust with the investment.

This was not Symantec's only move in the last week to strengthen its portfolio beyond the PC. On May 19, the company announced that it was acquiring VeriSign, which makes solutions to help protect online identities.

McAfee is apparently not resting in its bid to expand security beyond ant-malware protection. On Tuesday, it announced that it was acquiring Trust Digital, which has developed a mobile security platform largely used by enterprises.

We'll have a couple of sessions at the upcoming CONNECTIONS conference on "cloud media" and its impact on entertainment and services business models. As we continue to look at this subject, security will be a huge issue. I would look to these ISVs as active partipants in mobile, cloud, and consumer electronics applications.