Why Oh Why? Intel-McAfee Revisited

“McAfee server protection products are used extensively to protect clients,” says Mike Bryant, CTO of Future Horizons, “perhaps they didn’t want those skills turned to protecting those same clients from SPARC and ARM based servers? $7bn is a lot though – they could have developed a proper optimised 64 bit server chip for far less than that !!”

‘Scunnerous’ writes: “To me it suggests that Intel intends to build security hardware assist into their processors/chipsets, which has the potential for huge ructions in the industry. This would be something like DEP (Data Execute Protection), where Intel tripped over another AMD innovation, but at a deeper and more complex level… say something which allows heuristic detection of suspect software behaviours and possibly triggers new CPU exceptions. The software security vendors and processor competitors are going to be pissed that they need access to a new proprietary interface to compete. This is Intel’s way of course, which we’ve seen time and time again, e.g. with PCI, AGP, PCIe etc.: create a new interface, set up a SIG and declare it an “open standard”, but one where competitors can be excluded at will from the decisions and have no input into the definition… and Intel is in control. It’s a clever way of working around monopoly law and this behaviour was part of AMD’s complaint against Intel, and if I recall was not something they promised to stop doing. Perhaps I’m speculating too far but to me it makes sense and it hits the competition in the gut nicely.”

FTM reckons: “Wasn’t there a mention of security in the cloud and how Intel wanted to be a leader there? Irrespective of Intel’s acquisition, security needs to get integrated into our PCs. As long as devices have the “option” to run security software, security remains un-integrated and so prone to subversion. McAfee being bought over by Google or Microsoft made more sense – because they could claim to integrate it fundamentally into their products and services. Intel buying McAfee seems a bit weird unless Intel wishes to deliver large swathes of software (for the cloud). Currently Intel delivers as much software as McD delivers healthy food. But you cannot criticize McD if they decide to acquire a health foods co, can you?”

Greg takes a cynical and robust approach: “This is a classic case of modern management school dysfunction – that being ‘no growth, can’t innovate, don’t know how to innovate, can’t sit on the cash..crap lets just buy something.”