CA Buys Desktop Anti-Spam Vendor

Computer Associates International is continuing its acquisition spree with the addition of desktop antispam and antiphishing products to its eTrust portfolio.

The Islandia, N.Y.-based software vendor Tuesday said it bought privately held Qurb, a San Mateo, Calif.-based vendor. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The acquisition reinforces CA’s threat management strategy, said Sam Curry, vice president of eTrust security management at CA. The desktop antispam products will add another layer of protection to CA’s security product line, Curry said. CA already provides a gateway-based antispam offering in the business market.

One CA partner said the company’s acquisition strategy is on the right path. "We are excited to see CA's continued investment in the eTrust brand,” said Jeb Carter, president of DefenderSoft, a security solution provider in Dallas. “Threats like phishing are on the rise. This acquisition will allow DefenderSoft to continue to offer the latest in threat management to our end users."

For the past six months, CA has licensed the Qurb technology and marketed it as a consumer antispam product. Now, it plans to incorporate the Qurb technology into both its small-business and enterprise security product lines within about 12 months, Curry said.

The Qurb acquisition follows CA’s June 2005 acquisition of desktop firewall provider Tiny Software. Technology from the Tiny acquisition also will be incorporated into CA’s small-business and enterprise product lines, Curry said.

Once installed on the desktop, the Qurb technology builds a list of approved senders by scanning existing e-mail and contact folders. It then uses an identity-based approach and applies content analysis techniques to help users identify potentially legitimate messages that have been quarantined.