Nov 1, 2010 18:11 GMT  ·  By

Antivirus vendor Webroot has acquired cloud security solutions provider Prevx and plans to integrate the company's technology into its own services in order to enhance their capability.

Based in Boulder, Colorado, Webroot offers both consumer and corporate products. The company's flagship product is Webroot Spy Sweeper, a well known anti-spyware software.

The security vendor also develops antivirus and Internet security products, as well as in-the-cloud Web and Email security services for businesses.

"Webroot and Prevx share a common vision for revolutionizing what we believe is a market in need of dramatic change," said Webroot CEO Dick Williams.

"Security vendors have expected customers to buy, install, maintain, and then manage security products that simply cannot keep pace with today's cybercriminals.

"Prevx is the leader in cloud-based antivirus protection and behavior-based malware detection, which block threats before they can ever reach a PC or corporate network.

"This technology, combined with Webroot's innovations, customer service and support, will make it easy for consumers to stay protected online wherever they go, and easy for businesses to protect their employees and their networks," he added.

Derby, England-based Prevx is one of the first companies to offer cloud-based anti-malware solutions and all of its products are built around this core concept.

This allows its endpoint protection client called Prevx 3.0 to have a small footprint and exhibit very good performance.

It's other product, Prevx SafeOnline, runs at the lower levels of the operating system and prevents banking trojans and other browser-hooking threats from interfering with browsing sessions.

"Today's cybercrime industry is rife with zero day exploits, social engineering, and sophisticated techniques which make it possible for threats to get past traditional malware detection," said Prevx founder Mel Morris.

Mr. Morris will join Webroot as vice president and will remain general manager of Prevx operations for the time being.

"Webroot shares our desire to innovate at a time when our industry has fallen behind in the war against online crime.

"We also share a commitment to developing a relationship with our customers and making security an experience they enjoy," Mr. Morris added.