Homeland Security taps anti-snooping tool

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has signed a deal with content security provider Websense to protect its systems from spyware and other malicious code. The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement division has 40,000 employees. Controls within the Websense product will now control the access of those ICE employees to any blocked Web sites or content deemed inappropriate, Websense said Tuesday in a statement. Websense's software also blocks access to phishing Web sites and to sites that contain malicious code such as spyware, Trojan horses and virus code.

This deal represents a further fleshing out of Websense's U.S. government portfolio. It already lists the U.S. Air Force, Army and Navy as well as the FBI, IRS and National Institute of Health among its customers. The company did not disclose the value of the Homeland Security deal.

Will Sturgeon of Silicon.com reported from London.