http://news.cnet.com/8301-27080_3-20005461-245.html 

By Elinor Mills
InSecurity Complex
CNet News
May 19, 2010

With its acquisition of VeriSign's authentication business, Symantec is 
making a big play for a piece of the market for services that validate 
the identity of users and content on the Web.

The $1.28 billion cash deal--the third encryption-related purchase for 
Symantec in three weeks--would seem to be a natural extension of its 
desktop and server security offerings, several analysts said. But other 
observers question how well suited one of the leading antivirus 
providers really is to become the identity broker for the Internet.

"Where's the synergy?" wondered Avivah Litan, an analyst at Gartner, in 
an interview late Wednesday. "Certainly everyone wants to own identity 
(management), Facebook, Google, PayPal, and they have a much better shot 
at it because they own more content and more users...Symantec (now) has 
the technology infrastructure, but it's not a technology problem, it's a 
business problem."

Symantec Chief Executive Enrique Salem didn't have to look far to expand 
his Mountain View, Calif.-based kingdom. "When I look over my shoulder I 
see the VeriSign campus," also in Mountain View, he said during a 
conference call on Wednesday.

[...]


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