Check Point withdraws bid for Sourcefire

U.S government agencies had protested acquisition plans by the Israeli company

By Dan Nystedt

March 24, 2006 12:00 PM ET

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IDG News Service - Check Point Software Technologies Ltd., an Internet security company, yesterday withdrew its application to acquire intrusion-prevention firm Sourcefire Inc. amid protests over the deal by some U.S. government agencies.

The two companies plan to pursue alternative business partnerships instead, Check Point said in a statement.

The trouble appears to be that Check Point is foreign-owned and Sourcefire technology is used to protect the computer assets of the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. National Security Agency. According to reports, both the Defense Department and the FBI objected to the sale, questioning whether it's in the interest of national security to have that technology owned by a foreign firm.

Check Point is an Israeli-owned company, and the deal with Sourcefire fell under the review of the Committee on Foreign Investments in the U.S.

The founder of Sourcefire, Martin Roesch, led the development of Snort, an open-source intrusion-detection and prevention software that most of Sourcefire's technology is based on.

Reprinted with permission from

IDG.net
Story copyright 2009 International Data Group. All rights reserved.

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