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Snort Acquisition Stuffed Up By Feds
David Utter
Staff Writer
2006-03-24
 Insider Reports RSS Feed
The purchase of network security company Sourcefire, the makers of the Snort intrusion detection and prevention system, by Israel's Check Point has been withdrawn in the face of withering government scrutiny of the deal.
Fallout from the aborted takeover of six US ports by a Dubai-based firm may have been responsible for the mutual ending of the proposed takeover of Sourcefire by Check Point. Foreign ownership of US companies has been a hot topic since last year's aborted purchase of Unocal by the Chinese state-owned oil giant CNOOC.
Shortly after the rebellion by Congress and outcry from other quarters ended Dubai Ports World's assumption of management of ports in the US, the Sourcefire deal also ended. The two companies announced in a statement they had mutually withdrawn the transaction filed with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS).
The Washington Post noted how the deal ended over growing national security concerns by CFIUS about the deal:
"We've gone through the whole process hoping it would be approved, but at this point, we're happy to bring the issue to closure," said Michelle Perry, Sourcefire's chief marketing officer. She added that the companies withdrew their request for approval after "carefully considering the complications of the CFIUS process, the lengthy ongoing delays and the current climate for international acquisitions."
Check Point announced Feb. 13 that its bid to acquire Sourcefire had been elevated to a more serious investigative stage under the CFIUS review process…. Tony Fratto, a Treasury Department spokesman, said last night that he could not speculate on whether the deal would have been approved before the official deadline for a CFIUS decision. Three weeks ago, Fratto said that "certain members of the committee have outstanding concerns that there's potential risks to national security were the transaction to proceed."
The national security angle seems odd considering the long relationship Israel and the US have had. Dubai's roles as US ally and accused sponsor of terrorism over the years appeared to be ones that should incur additional scrutiny even as Bush Administration officials urged its approval.
While we spy on and are spied on by our allies, the prospect of a company headquartered in a friendly nation acquiring a company that develops an open source product licensed under the GPL does not look like one that should alarm investigators.
If Check Point were to try to place something in the code, like a backdoor, other developers would find it and publicize it quickly. Since CFIUS operates secretively, we will not find out what concerned them about this purchase.
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Tags: Snort, Sourcefire, Check Point |
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About the Author:
David Utter is a business and technology writer for SecurityProNews and WebProNews.
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