Microsoft harpoons Whale for security
Acquisition of remote-access provider is part of plan for better security arsenal.
Microsoft's Security, Access, and Solutions Division has finalized purchase of Whale Communications, maker of secure access products for enterprise clients, including secure-socket layer, virtual private network (SSL VPN) technology. Microsoft said it hopes that the acquisition deal, announced in May, will help bolster its plan to offer to businesses a full security-access platform--particularly with regard to SSL VPNs and Web application firewalls. So far, that hasn't been an easy task for the software giant.
Fort Lee, N.J.-based Whale, whose Web site now announces its status as "A Microsoft Subsidiary," isn't the only small company that Microsoft has netted recently: Earlier this month, the software giant acquired Windows-utility manufacturer Winternals.