The Santa Clara-based company paid an undisclosed amount for privately held Deersoft, the maker of the "Spam Assassin" -- software designed to stem the tide of unwanted e-mail swamping corporate computer networks.
The Spam Assassin, developed by a team of five engineers at San Mateo-based Deersoft, includes 750 different tests to root out spam.
Deersoft's tools will strengthen the anti-spam arsenal that Network Associates has been developing to supplement its popular anti-virus software sold under the McAfee brand, said Zoe Lowther, a senior marketing manager for McAfee.
"We are being asked every day by our customers for more anti-spam technology," Lowther said.
To meet the demand, Network Associates will invest even more in anti-spam and content filtering products, either through additional acquisitions or internal research and development.
The sketchy diversification plans outlined Monday seemed to please investors. Network Associates' shares rose $1.40, or more than 8 percent, to close at $18.40 on the New York Stock Exchange.
"This is a smart move by Network Associates because there's such a huge opportunity," said industry analyst Walter Pritchard of SoundView Technology.
Spam accounted for about 40 percent of Internet e-mail during 2002, up from 8 percent in 2001, according to Brightmail, which provides filtering products for several major Internet service providers.
The rapid growth is distracting workers from their jobs as they spend more time wading through their e-mail boxes. Because so much spam contains unsavory images or words, many companies are worried they could be sued for exposing workers to offensive material. Companies also are forced to buy more storage and bandwidth space to cope with the heavier e-mail volume spurred by spam.
Last year, spam cost U.S. businesses $8.9 billion and European businesses $2.5 billion, according to a new study by Ferris Research.
Those financial headaches could turn into a boon for Network Associates if it can include effective anti-spam filters on the anti-virus software that it already sells corporate customers.
Network Associates could charge an additional $5 to $10 per worker for a variety of content filtering software, Pritchard estimated. Network Associates also could make software that enables companies to prevent workers from visiting unauthorized Web sites or forwarding confidential memos.
Network Associates plans to include some of Deersoft's anti-spam tools in a product that will hit the corporate market during the second quarter.
Copyright 2002. Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
