McAfee Dives into Data Loss Prevention

SAN FRANCISCO—McAfee announced its initial foray into the emerging data loss prevention software market here at the RSA Conference Feb. 5, launching a set of tools to manage the flow of sensitive information across corporate networks and endpoint devices.

Built through a combination of internal development and Santa Clara, Calif.-based McAfee’s October 2006 acquisition of Onigma, the package promises the ability for organizations to oversee and control data distribution via a wide range of desktop applications and storage technologies, including e-mail and instant messaging systems, removable USB devices, CD-ROMs, and even printed documents.

The security software maker is pitching DLP (data loss prevention) as a critical piece of its overall corporate risk management strategy, which advocates the use of integrated portfolios of technologies over individual point products and stand-alone applications. McAfee is also hungry to benefit from the rapidly expanding market for DLP tools, growth of which is being driven by an avalanche of high-profile data exposure incidents reported by companies such as retailer TJX Companies.

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