Symantec to pay $350M for Vontu

Symantec Corp. will acquire Vontu Inc., a provider of data loss prevention solutions for industry and government, in a deal valued at $350 million.

The acquisition will enable Symantic of Cupertino, Calif., to provide greater information-centric security solutions that protect the device and the information itself, said Tom Kendra, group president of Symantec's Security and Data Management Group.

Vontu's federal solution can help government agencies protect personally identifiable information such as employee names and addresses, taxpayers' identification numbers and sensitive information whose exposure could affect national security or an agency's reputation, the San Francisco company said.

By joining forces with Symantec and building on the company's strengths in enterprise security and storage solutions, Vontu will be able to help customers know where their confidential information is stored, how it is being used, and how best to prevent its loss, said Vontu Chief Executive Joseph Ansanelli.

A recent Gartner industry report ranked Vontu among the leaders of content monitoring and filtering and data loss prevention. The acquisition is expected to close before the end of the year.