Symantec Corp. announced yesterday that it has signed a deal to acquire Sygate Technologies. Sygate is a technology leader in endpoint compliance solutions, and for more than five years, enterprise customers have turned to Sygate to automate the process of discovering endpoints, determining their compliance with security policies, enforcing network access control, remediating noncompliant systems, providing compliance monitoring and so forth. Endpoint compliance solutions help enterprise organizations enforce security by guaranteeing that all devices connected to a network are configured correctly and have been properly patched. The acquisition is expected to close shortly.

"Securing the 'endpoints' of a corporate network is a challenge that affects all enterprises," said Chris Christiansen, vice president of security products and services, IDC. "Companies are looking for integrated offerings that can both protect the network and ensure that endpoints are compliant with security policies. This acquisition will give customers a complete endpoint compliance solution while helping to reduce complexity and cost."