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Sporkman
August 19th, 2010, 03:24 PM
Intel to Acquire McAfee, Moving Into Online Security

SAN FRANCISCO — Intel, the chip maker, has turned into Intel, the security specialist.

The entrance to Intel’s campus in Hillsboro, Ore. Intel’s move to buy McAfee is its biggest effort to date to expand beyond its core chip-making business.

Making one of most eye-catching moves in its 42-year history, Intel announced Thursday that it planned to acquire McAfee for $7.68 billion in cash...

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/20/technology/20chip.html

handy
August 19th, 2010, 03:28 PM
I would have liked to have read that NY Times story, but there is no way I'm ever registering with them to do it.

Guess I'll look elsewhere eh?

[Edit:] This link does it for me:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11025866

Oppermongo
August 19th, 2010, 03:30 PM
Just read this on tweakers.net, doesn't make much sense imo for a chip manufacturer to buy an av, but I'm probably missing something here...:confused:

Anyway, I won't miss McAfee, it never worked properly for me, the only time I did see it working was in an enterprise environment, in combination with another AV...

handy
August 19th, 2010, 03:56 PM
Just read this on tweakers.net, doesn't make much sense imo for a chip manufacturer to buy an av, but I'm probably missing something here...:confused:

Perhaps what you are missing is that Intel is moving beyond computers into the entertainment centres of as many homes on the planet as possible (of course).

As the wide screen TVs with chips in them from Intel & Sony (amongst others) quickly start bringing the internet out of the office & into the average persons living room/entertainment centre (helped along by firmware from Google of course) security must be maintained. Intel know they are moving into a new & huge market therefore they are making the preparations for same.

Swagman
August 19th, 2010, 04:00 PM
Don't most routers, tellies etc run some form of linux anyway ?

I use avast on win machines anyway.

handy
August 19th, 2010, 04:19 PM
Don't most routers, tellies etc run some form of linux anyway ? ...


So what exactly has that got to do with Intel buying McAfee?

I'm not being rude, I just don't see what you are saying.

Was it said due to you not looking far enough into the applicable (in this instance) technological future (which won't take long to manifest)?

Johnsie
August 19th, 2010, 04:20 PM
This makes sense. Hopefully they will improve mcafee which at the moment isnt very good and is one of the main reasons why computers are slowed down. Intel want their computers to be fast. However it's more likely this takeover occured for financial reasons rather than anything else.

In terms of embeded devices which run linux... If they are connected to the Internet malware developers will start to target them. We're already starting to see alot more malware writers targeting devices like the iPhone and Android. Malware is not just a Windows issue anymore and over the next year or so we're going to see alot more platforms being targetted. I think desktop Linux will remain relatively safe though in the short term as there is not as much money in targeting desktop Linux. The big money is in Windows, portable devices and Linux servers (if you can hack a webserver its easier to distribute malware)

Sporkman
August 19th, 2010, 04:23 PM
So what exactly has that got to do with Intel buying McAfee?

I'm not being rude, I just don't see what you are saying.

Was it said due to you not looking far enough into the applicable (in this instance) technological future (which won't take long to manifest)?

He's assuming they don't need to be made any more secure, due to the linux... :)

Swagman
August 19th, 2010, 04:59 PM
He's assuming they don't need to be made any more secure, due to the linux... :)

We have a winner.

Was it really that hard to grasp though ?

Sporkman
August 19th, 2010, 05:01 PM
Was it really that hard to grasp though ?

He assumed that you wouldn't be so foolish as to equate linux with invincible security. :) So his incredulity blocked this outcome.

I'm the Assumption Registrar today...

Cavsfan
August 19th, 2010, 05:06 PM
Never did like McAfee on windows machines. Too much of a resource hog. Avira free is the way to go.
It's not a resource hog and it's free which is unbeatable! :popcorn:
It finds things before they get on your windows system.

bouncingwilf
August 19th, 2010, 06:17 PM
However, One possible side effect is, as major (not exclusive) current sales for AV product are MS based machines, will it be in Intel's interest to work with *nix desktop devices ?

bouncingwilf

kamaboko
August 19th, 2010, 06:27 PM
I used McAfee years ago when it wasn't a dog. I switched to Windows Essentials a few months ago for my HTPC and a laptop, both with Win7, and it works great. It barely makes a footprint and from what I can tell does a great job.

blur xc
August 19th, 2010, 07:08 PM
Perhaps what you are missing is that Intel is moving beyond computers into the entertainment centres of as many homes on the planet as possible (of course).

As the wide screen TVs with chips in them from Intel & Sony (amongst others) quickly start bringing the internet out of the office & into the average persons living room/entertainment centre (helped along by firmware from Google of course) security must be maintained. Intel know they are moving into a new & huge market therefore they are making the preparations for same.

Could you imagine the day when our TV's will be getting viruses? Personally, I'm quite happy with my dumb TV (imo, I wouldn't even have a tuner in it- it's useless in my area), connected to a plain cable box of some kind. Simple- easy- safe.

BM

KiwiNZ
August 19th, 2010, 07:15 PM
This is an interesting move.

I already have a TV and a Blu Ray(not PS3) player that is connected to the Internet.

It makes sense that a key component maker will be involved more closely with security.

Austin25
August 20th, 2010, 06:45 AM
Facepalm. According to the story of Peter Pan, I am doing the world a favor by saying I don't believe in Viruses.

keithpeter
August 20th, 2010, 09:22 AM
Hello All


"But Intel executives argued growing security dangers require new measures, describing the acquisition as an essential step to design chips and other hardware that can protect systems better than software alone."

-- Wall Street Journal (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704476104575439180665843938.html?m od=googlenews_wsj)

Something I'm sure that we will hear more about. Anyone know anything about hardware security?