European Commission clears Intel's buyout of McAfee
updated 01:50 pm EST, Wed January 26, 2011
Intel buyout of McAfee gets nod from Europe
The European Commission has now approved the $7.68 million buyout of McAfee by Intel. The approval required Intel's promise to ensure the interoperability of the new McAfee products with those of Intel's competitors in order to eliminate antitrust concerns. The commission praised Intel's cooperation in contrast to its resisting antitrust fines in 2009.
Intel purchased McAfee to introduce tougher hardware security in processors and more tightly integrate the chips and software in stopping security threats. In particular, Intel wants to focus on mobile devices, where security has been neglected compared to desktop systems, making them more susceptible to attacks.
The merger could lead to processors that scan for viruses and other malware. Rogue code wouldn't necessarily have the option of circumventing detection where it can with software. [via WSJ]
