Zone Labs brews up antispam deal

The computer-security maker will bundle antispam software from Cloudmark into its product mix, both companies are expected to announce.

Ben Charny Staff Writer, CNET News.com

Ben Charny

covers Net telephony and the cellular industry.

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Ben Charny

Oct. 20, 2003 2:53 p.m. PT

Computer-security maker Zone Labs will bundle antispam software from Cloudmark with its products, both companies are expected to announce Tuesday.

The coupling is the first example of a network security provider meshing antispam software into its product mix, according to Karl Jacob, Cloudmark's chief executive. It's a move to "modularization" that will soon take hold of most of the security industry, said Brian Burke, security products research manager for IDC.

"Enterprise and consumer customers will increasingly look for security products that integrate various security features such as firewall, antivirus and antispam, with centralized management," Burke said in a statement.



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The two companies will announce Tuesday that Zone Labs will bundle Cloudmark's SpamNet with its online sales of ZoneAlarm Pro and ZoneAlarm Plus firewall products, according to Jacob. Existing Zone Labs customers will be offered a discount on the spam-fighting software, he added.

Burke said Cloudmark has about 650,000 registered users of its SpamNet product, including about 1,000 small businesses. About 22 million people use Zone Labs products to protect their networks, according to the company.

"Zone Labs came to us saying they had a huge demand from customers saying, 'Please help,'" Jacobs added. "Zone Labs has 22 million users. That request can get pretty loud."