McAfee Closes Acquisition of VPN Provider TunnelBear

McAfee has confirmed its acquisition of TunnelBear, a virtual private network (VPN) provider based in Toronto. Neither company disclosed the value of the deal.

TunnelBear is a consumer-focused company founded in 2011 with the idea of making online privacy more accessible to the public. Its cross-platform VPN app, available for both mobile and desktop, reportedly has about 20 million users. Consumers are growing wary of privacy concerns, according to McAfee data: 58% know how to check if a wifi network is secure but less than 50% take the time to do it. Only 19% own a personal VPN solution.

It seems McAfee plans to leverage TunnelBear's "hardened network" for its own VPN service called Safe Connect, says CEO Chris Young in a statement, noting that the VPN service had built "an engaging profitable direct-to-consumer brand." McAfee will keep the TunnelBear brand and standalone apps active, reports VentureBeat.

This is the second acquisition McAfee has made since its spinoff from Intel last year. In November 2017 the company bought CASB provider Skyhigh Networks, a move intended to expand its security architecture to include both endpoint and cloud control points.

Read more details here.

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