Trend Micro Signs Buyout Deal With UK Software Encryption Firm

Antivirus software company Trend Micro has just announced the purchase of Identum, an e-mail encryption software vendor based in the United Kingdom. The acquisition will "ensure an even safer, more secure Internet experience for the company's global customers," said Trend Micro in the press release.

Identum is known for its Private Post desktop and gateway server products, that are used to encrypt the e-mail messages. The encryption level is dictated by the server software and depends on the user's corporate security policy. The 10-employees company claims that its technology is easier to use and administer than other corporate email encryption software, as it uses elliptic-curve cryptography.

Trend Micro has great plans for the newly-purchased company, especially for its intellectual property. The antivirus maker will integrate the email encryption software into its already existing line of products. Moreover, it will rename its new acquisition from Identum to Trend Micro (Bristol) Ltd. Idento will also add extra value to Trend's SaaS (software-as-a-service) product portfolio, since it will allow the antivirus manufacturer to add e-mail encryption to its InterScan Messaging Hosted Security product line.

"Our team of cryptography experts is excited at the opportunity to join Trend Micro, a company lauded for its innovative security solutions," said Andy Dancer, chief technical officer of Identum.

Trend has been following into other antivirus solution manufacturers lately and it offered its customers the opportunity to keep their security systems up with the latest threats. Email encryption software is extremely important, because it's necessary to decrypt the e-mail message in order to scan it for malware or other security threats. Trend would like to put an end to the traditional approach, where encryption and anti-virus software were delivered by distinct companies and lacked perfect interoperability.

Trend Micro is marking its way as one of the four biggest antivirus companies on the market, and achieving an email encryption company is as vital as having proprietary anti-spam technology.