Reuters: Technology News: Google buys cybersecurity startup VirusTotal

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Google buys cybersecurity startup VirusTotal Sep 7th 2012, 20:23 Tweet Share this Email Print Related News Google to acquire Frommer's travel guidebooks Tue, Aug 14 2012 Google to cut 4,000 Motorola Mobility jobs, shares rise Mon, Aug 13 2012 Google pays $22.5 million to settle Apple Safari charges Thu, Aug 9 2012 Related Topics Tech » Deals » Global Deals Review: 2011 Q3 » Global Deals Review: 2011 Q2 » Global Deals Review » Inflows Outflows » A woman walks past the Google Chicago headquarters logo in Chicago, March 20, 2012. Credit: Reuters/Jim Young SAN FRANCISCO | Fri Sep 7, 2012 4:23pm EDT SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Google Inc has bought startup VirusTotal, picking up a fledgling but widely used cybersecurity industry player in a move that could beef up protection for its Internet services. The acquisition of VirusTotal, which aggregates warnings on submitted files and websites from most antivirus solutions, including Intel Corp's McAfee and Symantec Corp, could significantly shore up the search giant's ability to weed out infectious content from Gmail, social network Google+ and even the pages it shows search users. VirusTotal operates by accepting requests for virus checks, running every available protection software on the questioned document or pages, then distributing the results to security vendors. Because those results include the documents and websites submitted, the service is considered a valuable source of information by the security industry about emergent threats and potential targets. "VirusTotal will continue to operate independently, maintaining our partnerships with other antivirus companies and security experts," the startup said in a blogpost announcing the acquisition. "We've worked hard to ensure that the services we offer continually improve. But as a small, resource-constrained company, that can sometimes be challenging." Google did not disclose the amount it paid, and did not respond to requests for comment. (Reporting by Joseph Menn and Edwin Chan; Editing by Gary Hill) Global Deals Review: 2011 Q3 Global Deals Review: 2011 Q2 Related Quotes and News Company Price Related News Tweet this Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/ Comments (0) Be the first to comment on reuters.com. Add yours using the box above.

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