CIOIN

 Intel's McAfee unit is acquiring NitroSecurity in an effort to speed up risk and threat assessment capabilities via its security products, Intel said Tuesday.

A McAfee spokeswoman declined to disclose the acquisition amount, but said the transaction is expected to close within a month. McAfee operates as a business unit inside Intel.

NitroSecurity provides real-time security products to detect, assess and mitigate threats. The NitroView products provide a way for enterprises to inspect data packets and monitor networks, and also to analyze and manage events based on which it can take appropriate action.

NitroSecurity products will provide McAfee with the security intelligence capabilities to identify and take care of threats "in minutes instead of hours," McAfee said in a statement. Some NitroSecurity customers include Coca-Cola Enterprises, the U.S. Army and NASA.

With NitroSecurity, McAfee will also expand its reach in the fast growing security information and event management market, said Stuart McClure, general manager of the Risk and Compliance business unit at McAfee, in a blog entry.

More details about NitroSecurity's integration within McAfee will emerge once the acquisition is complete, the McAfee spokeswoman said. NitroSecurity employees will become a part of McAfee's Risk and Compliance business unit, but continue to operate out of their current offices. NitroSecurity is based in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and has an engineering and research and development office in Idaho Falls, Idaho.

Intel completed the purchase of McAfee for US$7.68 billion in March. Intel last month said it was building chip-level protection based on McAfee software to better detect malicious software such as rootkits.