Symantec boosts risk management with Gideon buy

Symantec is particularly interested in Gideon's offerings for the Security Content Automation Protocol

Symantec has agreed to purchase Gideon Technologies, a specialist in IT security and risk management.

The company said on Tuesday that the acquisition of the privately held Gideon is slated for completion by the end of March. Gideon is not a publically traded firm, and details of the acquisition are not being released.

Symantec said that it will add Gideon's security compliance and threat reporting tools to its own portfolio of products, and is particularly interested in Gideon's offerings for the Security Content Automation Protocol (Scap).

The protocol outlines compliance and vulnerability management standards, and is part of the overall security standards for US government IT systems.

Symantec also plans to add Gideon's Secure Fusion tools to the Symantec Management Platform.

The firm hopes that the acquisition and the adoption of Scap will help the company gain further ground in the public sector IT market.

"The US government continues to make the cyber security of our country's public and private infrastructures a priority, and Symantec will support public sector customers with standards-based solutions that meet their complex compliance requirements with the highest degree of accuracy," said Gigi Schumm, vice president and general manager for the public sector at Symantec.