Acquisition provides Marshal 8e6 with advanced behavior-based malware detection technology

April 14, 2009

3 Min Read

PRESS RELEASE

Orange, Calif. " April 14, 2009 " Marshal8e6, a global provider of Web and email security products, has today announced the acquisition of Avinti, a provider of advanced behavior-based malware detection technology. The acquisition strengthens Marshal8e6's ability to stop the emerging threat techniques known as blended threats and bridges the gap in security protection between email and the Web. Email blended threats either use active malware content or, by embedding URLs in an email, can link the user to Web sites where malware is downloaded in the background. These attacks are missed by traditional anti-virus products looking for malware as email attachments, and by Web filters that focus on content, not viruses and spyware.

Under terms of the agreement, Avinti's team will be immediately merged into Marshal8e6. In addition, Avinti's patent-pending behavior observation technology, used to solve the problem of blended threats, will be quickly integrated into Marshal8e6's portfolio of email and Web security solutions. This acquisition follows closely behind the November 2008 merger of Marshal and 8e6 Technologies, and delivers on the company's promise to add new technologies to continuously improve their existing portfolio of multi-layered enterprise-class threat protection solutions.

"Organizations are increasingly looking for methods to effectively detect and manage inbound malware across all communication channels," said George Shih, Interim CEO, Marshal8e6. "When we created Marshal8e6, we committed to providing the most effective multi-channel security solution on the market. With the acquisition of Avinti, we are delivering on that pledge. Their innovative and proactive malware detection technology fulfills customers' requirements to block today's new threats. One of the key areas we anticipate using their technology is in blocking blended threats, an area that has successfully thwarted other Web and email security products."

Avinti's advanced behavioral analysis technology proactively searches the body of an email for active content and URLs. It quickly filters potential threats and observes the behavior of suspicious Web content in its Observation Engine to identify Web-based malware and takes action on those threats. Avinti's approach does not rely on signatures and is effective at catching even new malware. It is capable of blocking malware threats not detected by signature-based solutions, providing true protection from zero-day threats, malware variants, targeted attacks and blended threats. As part of Marshal8e6's enterprise-class email and Web security solutions, Avinti's technology will deliver the necessary malware protection needed to bridge the gap between stand-alone email and Web security strategies.

"The increasing emergence of blended threats requires advanced threat detection and analysis, along with a holistic approach to looking at threats across an organization's inbound and outbound channels," said William Kilmer, CEO of Avinti. "Marshal8e6 recognizes customers' needs and have positioned themselves to be the "one-stop-shop" for integrated enterprise-class blended threat protection. We are very pleased with the acquisition and look forward to integrating our technology into existing Marshal8e6 solutions."

The financial details of the acquisition were not announced. Marshal8e6 will retain a development center in Avinti's Utah-based office to focus on integrating elements of Avinti's behavior-based malware detection into Marshal8e6 products.

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About Marshal8e6 Marshal8e6 is a global provider of Web and email security products. We are the only security company able to provide integrated, reliable and effective enterprise-class multi-layered solutions. Our deep expertise in Web and email allows us to correlate real-time threat intelligence to protect organizations from current and emerging threats. With 20,000 customers and 16 million end users in 96 countries, the company is privately held and based in Orange, California with international headquarters in London and offices worldwide. For more information about Marshal8e6, please visit www.marshal8e6.com.

About Avinti Avinti, based in Orem, Utah, is a proactive e-mail security solutions company that has taken a different approach to protecting organizations from security threats. Avinti's products include the iSolation Server which utilizes behavior-based techniques to proactively and safely block threats not detected by traditional security solutions. The company's customers are based in a variety of industries, including financial services, health care, service providers and education. Avinti's investors include Sequel Venture Partners, Symantec Corporation, and vSpring Capital.

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