June 15, 2005 - (HOSTSEARCH.COM) - Network antivirus and Internet content security software and services firm Trend Micro Inc. today announced it has acquired Kelkea Inc. a leading authority on IP filtering and reputation services, by Trend Micro's United States subsidiary. This acquisition advances the opportunity for Trend Micro to develop network-level solutions against emerging and evolving threats such as phishing, pharming, and those that can be launched via botnets, and enhance its current anti-spam solutions.
"This acquisition will significantly enhance Trend Micro's ability to develop innovative solutions against threats that we know are still evolving
but are extremely concerning to us," said Eva Chen, CEO and co-founder of Trend Micro. "We believe the integration and continued development of Kelkea and Trend Micro technology and capabilities will place us at the forefront of
the fight against unpredictable malicious threats."
IP filtering is a process for identifying the sources of threats, such as spam email, and preventing these threats from reaching users by blocking
incoming communications of known, offensive IP addresses. Kelkea currently provides anti-spam services with this capability for some of the largest
solution providers in the world, and maintains a network for monitoring and rating the reputation of IP addresses - a process known as reputation
services.
Reputation services are becoming key in the fight against spam. Kelkea has an extensive knowledgebase containing detailed profiles with statistics and history for more than 1.5 billion IP addresses. In addition to protecting the email and network infrastructure from spam, reputation services can also be used to defend against threats such as phishing, pharming, and threats
launched by attackers using botnets.
To help oversee this technology integration, Kelkea chairman, founder and CEO Dave Rand has been named Trend Micro Chief Technologist of Internet
Content Security.
"I'm very excited at this opportunity to work with Trend Micro, to develop forward looking security solutions to defend businesses and consumers," said Dave Rand. "Without appropriate security measures, the Internet has become a dangerous place - as threats evolve, so have security
needs. Staying one step ahead of new, emerging Internet threats requires a layered approach to security, amalgamating a variety of advanced
technologies, holistic techniques, and years of security experience."
"Internet threats constantly emerge and even old threats remain persistent problems. This challenges customers to find effective and
efficient ways to protect themselves," said Brian Burke, IDC Program Manager. "Within this threat landscape, solutions must combine web filtering and
anti-virus technologies and expertise. This combination can prevent attacks from hitting the network thus reducing the customer's pain."
Phishing is a social engineering phenomenon, whereby victims are tricked into handing over personal details via email. Often the email will claim to be from a well-known bank, requesting the victim confirm or supply sensitive personal data. Recent phishing attacks have become far more robust, with the capability to appear authentic to even the most savvy computer users.
Pharming is a more complex threat than phishing, although its intent is the same - defrauding innocent computer users. The difference is that, unlike phishing, pharming doesn't rely on fooling the user. Instead, either the victim's system or the DNS server may be compromised to re-direct traffic to a malicious site. Through "DNS Poisoning" or "URL Hijacking", even correctly-entered URLs can be successfully diverted to a malicious site -
frequently an excellent mock-up of the intended site - in an attempt to extract sensitive personal data from the victim.
Botnets are a collection of computers that have become infected such that they can be utilized unbeknownst to the user by the offending party to launch various kinds of threats on others, such as spam attacks or Distributed Denial of Service attacks.
Trend Micro will initially offer Kelkea's existing services under its own brand name, and will continue to support all of Kelkea's current customers.
Over the course of the next 12 months, Trend Micro will be developing innovative offerings and integrated services for corporate customers and
service providers to stem emerging threats such as phishing, pharming, and those enabled by botnets.
