After Google announced the existence of an Anti-Malware Team inside Googleplex (and launched an online security blog), speculations that Google is entering the complex security market swamped the internets.
The speculations are being proven to be true. Google has announced the acquisition of Postini, “the global leader in on-demand communications security, compliance, and productivity solutions for email, instant messaging, and the web.” From the press release:
Google Inc. announced today that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Postini, a global leader in on-demand communications security and compliance solutions serving more than 35,000 businesses and 10 million users worldwide. Postini’s services — which include message security, archiving, encryption, and policy enforcement — can be used to protect a company’s email, instant messaging, and other web-based communications. Under the terms of the agreement, Google will acquire Postini for $625 million in cash, subject to working capital and other adjustments, and Postini will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Google. The agreement is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close by the end of the third quarter 2007.
“With this transaction, we’re reinforcing our commitment to delivering compelling hosted applications to businesses of all sizes. With the addition of Postini, our apps are not just simple and appealing to users — they can also streamline the complex information security mandates within these organizations,” said Eric Schmidt, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Google.
Hosted enterprise security, anyone? Kidding aside, how does this acquisition play up to Google’s business? We go to Google’s mission for some clues: “Google’s mission is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.”
Aside from probably securing Google’s online apps (and the information that Google collects and indexes), Google will probably leverage on Postini’s technology to provide hosted security apps and services, acting as a firewall of sorts between the Internet and an enterprise’s network.
This solution is cost effective because a company does not have to bother with acquiring hardware and deploying solutions. Revenue for this solution is via subscription.
By this acquisition, Google becomes a serious contender in the security market, and a step towards world domination. Now, if Google releases an OS, world domination is all set.
UPDATE: 10/03/2007
Google now offers Postini security apps via Google Apps Premier edition.